The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has started the process of freezing at least five bank accounts of Arpita Mukherjee, an aide of arrested West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, where she has received at least Rs 2 crore, a senior official said on Saturday. Said to He said other bank accounts linked to several “shell companies” run by Mukherjee are also under the scanner of the ED.
The process of freezing five bank accounts of Mukherjee has started. A total of about Rs 2 crore has been received in these accounts. We suspect that these accounts were used for carrying out multiple transactions and further investigation is on,” the ED official said. He added that the agency is probing bank accounts linked to “skull companies”, He refused to disclose the amount deposited there.
“We have sought the details of these accounts from the authorities concerned. After going through the accounts, we will decide on our next course of action.” The official said the agency will continue to question Mukherjee to know if he has more bank accounts.
He said Chatterjee’s bank accounts were also being probed. He said investigators have started searching for four high-end vehicles of Mukherjee, which are missing.
“Mukherjee’s two cars were a Mercedes and a Mini Cooper. These vehicles were used by the minister and his colleague Mukherjee for Anand Yatra. She used to have parties inside both these vehicles. The officer said that Chatterjee used to follow her in another vehicle and after a point, he would go for a pleasure ride inside her vehicle.
He claimed that all the vehicles were purchased between 2016 and 2019. “One of the high-end cars was gifted by Chatterjee. He has also helped him in buying most of these high-end vehicles. We’ve seen Merck,” said the investigator.
He said investigators have also found that Chatterjee has allegedly booked two more vehicles for which advance payment has been made. “Both these vehicles were booked for two shell companies and advance payment has been made. But both were arrested before their delivery.
Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) has been asked to probe an alleged illegal building belonging to Chatterjee in the Kasba area. “I have directed KMDA to check the papers related to this building. If anything goes wrong, we will take over the building. We have that power,” Hakim said.
Chatterjee, who was the state education minister, was arrested by the ED in cash for the school job scam. Crores of rupees in cash were found in his aide Mukherjee’s apartment, besides gold believed to be in kilograms, documents of assets and foreign currency seized by the ED, forcing the TMC to suspend him and snatch away his ministerial portfolios. .
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