Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) grilled Tuesday West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee and his alleged associate Arpita Mukherjee, arrested in connection with the school jobs scam, sources said. The agency also issued summons to Manik Bhattacharya, TMC MLA and former president of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE), for questioning in connection with the jobs scam. He has been asked to depose before officials of the agency at the CGO Complex here at noon Wednesday
Chatterjee was brought back to Kolkata at 6.30am after a thorough check-up at AIIMS Bhubaneswar. He was straightaway taken to the ED office at CGO complex. He is being questioned.
A special court had Monday remanded both Chatterjee and Mukherjee to ED custody till August 3 on a prayer by the agency for questioning them to unearth the alleged money trail involved in the teacher recruitment scam.
While Chatterjee was produced before the special court through virtual mode as per a Calcutta High Court order, Mukherjee was physically produced before it. The high court had Sunday directed that Chatterjee be taken to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, for a medical check-up by specialists of various departments Monday.
Chatterjee was arrested Saturday by the ED in connection with its investigation into irregularities in the recruitment drives by the School Service Commission (SSC). The senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader held the education portfolio when the alleged appointment scam took place.
It should also be stated that the ED had already conducted search operations on Bhattacharya’s residential premises July 22.
Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury has urged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ‘to immediately sack’ Chatterjee from the state cabinet.
Meanwhile in a separate development, West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee demanded Tuesday a time-bound probe into the entire recruitment scam. He hoped that the truth would be out soon. He also stated that the arrest of Chatterjee will not have any adverse impact on parliamentary affairs of the West Bengal Assembly.
“I don’t think that the arrest will have any adverse impact on the parliamentary affairs of the West Bengal Assembly. If someone falls sick or is absent, it won’t stop the functioning of the state government or the House,” Biman said.
“But I think there should be a time-bound probe into the matter. It is unacceptable that the investigation would continue for years. I am hopeful that the truth would come out soon,” the speaker added.
Without naming anyone, the Assembly Speaker also hit back at Opposition parties for mocking Chatterjee over the latter’s arrest. “Those who are laughing today may not laugh tomorrow. I have doubts about this episode (investigation into school jobs scam),” he said.