The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee hours after the federal probe agency recovered Rs. 20 crore cash from the house of his aide, Arpita Mukherjee.
The recovered cash is believed to be the proceeds of the infamous recruitment scam, whose masterminds have been senior officials and politicians in the Bengal government.
The ruling Trinamool Congress has not reacted to the arrest of Chatterjee, who held the education ministry in Mamata Banerjee government when the alleged scam surfaced. The party has said that it will release a statement at an appropriate time.
“We are keeping a close watch on the situation. We will come out with a statement at an appropriate time,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh was quoted by news agency PTI.
Chatterjee was arrested after hours of questioning. According to reports, Chatterjee was grilled about the discovery of Rs. 20 crore but he remained evasive. His party, the Trinamool Congress, has said that it had no connection with Arpita, who too was detained by the ED.
Chatterjee later complained of uneasiness prompting the ED officials to take him for a medical test at a hospital.
