Bengal school jobs scam: ED searches 4 more locations

According to ED sources, there are few more properties and flats allegedly in the name of Aprita Mukherjee that are under the scanner.

Arpita Mukherjee is in the custody of ED till August 3, and is being interrogated.

Arpita Mukherjee has revealed important information and our officials are further probing the case, said an ED official. The official claimed that Arpita told ED officials that money recovered from her flats belonged to TMC leader Partha Chatterjee.

The recovery made by ED from two apartments in Belgharia’s Club Town Heights came five days after the ED said it had seized Rs 21 crore in cash from another location in the city linked to Mukherjee.

“Bundles of cash were recovered from a shelf while inspecting Arpita Mukherjee’s flat in Belgharia Club Town Heights in Kolkata. It took several hours to count the notes with the help of bank officials and counting machines,” an ED official said, adding the counting went on till about 5.30 am on Thursday.

The seizure includes cash worth Rs 27.9 crore (Rs 2,000 notes packed into bundles of Rs 50 lakh each, and Rs 500 notes packed into bundles of Rs 20 lakh each), gold and jewellery worth Rs 4.31 crore (3 gold bricks of 1 kg each, 6 bangles of 500 gram each among other jewellery) and one gold pen.

Besides cash and jewellery, ED officials said, they have recovered land-related documents from her house.

Sources said ED officers had to break into two flats linked to Mukherjee as the keys could not be found. The searches were based on information provided by Mukherjee who was arrested along with minister Partha Chatterjee on July 23, a day after the first batch of cash was seized.

“I had never stayed up the entire night before this,” said Ankit Churaria, one of the residents of the Club Town Heights, where Arpita owns two flats.

“As soon as the officials entered Arpita’s house, they found money packed in bundles. Most of the cash was recovered from the bedroom of her flat. Some were also kept in the washroom

People of the residential society had gathered in large numbers to get a glimpse of the cash that was recovered,” he added.

Another resident Umed Nahata said, “I have been auditing bank accounts for the last 30 years and never have I seen such amounts of cash in my life. This is very surprising that such a large sum of money was stacked in a flat in the complex we reside in.”

Voicing his concerns about non-payment of maintenance fees of the society by Arpita since January, Sanjay Chandak, the treasurer of The Club Town Heights Apartment Association, told The Indian Express: “We are worried about the maintenance amount that remains due. We have entered the third quarter and as she has two flats, close to Rs 20,000 is due for each quarter.”

The central probe agency has sealed the house with a notice put up at the gate of the flat. “… This premises has been sealed by Vipul Harsh, Assistant Director of Enforcement Directorate. All persons, including the owner of the premises, are prohibited from breaking the seal or from any other act which shall hamper the investigation under the prevention of money laundering act linked to these premises without getting approval from the Enforcement Directorate,” the notice read.

Directed by the Calcutta High Court, CBI is probing alleged irregularities in the recruitment of Group C and D staff as well as teachers in government-sponsored and aided schools when Chatterjee was the Education Minister. The ED is tracking the money trail in the case.