The Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigators have started probe into possible Hawala links of West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee. Partha and Arpita were arrested by ED officials in the SSC teacher recruitment scam on Saturday, after an unaccounted cash of Rs. 21 cr was recovered from Arpita’s home. ED on Sunday produced Arpita before a local court in Kolkata and was granted custody for a day by the court.
ED investigators believe that all the money was received through Hawala channels operating from Bangladesh. Some textile companies are under ED scanner, so is Naktala Udayan Sangh’s Puja Committee.
Sources close to the ED investigations told The Daily Guardian that Partha is connected to several directors of two textile companies and the money that was seized after a raid on his aide Arpita’s residence in South Kolkata was received through some Hawala channels operating out of Bangladesh. The textile companies under ED scanner are at Barashat and Gariahat. ED officials are going to send notices to the directors of these companies, the sources said. Arpita is learned to be a model for the Gariahat saree manufacturing company.
The Naktala Udayan Sangh’s Puja Committee, now under the ED scanner, is in the area where the WB commerce and industry minister lives. Arpita is a brand ambassador of the committee.
Meanwhile, some more names connected to Partha have cropped up in the case. The TMC leader and minster is alleged to have gifted some properties to Monalisa Das. However, ED officials have not confirmed yet her connection in the case.
The ED began its probe in the case after the Calcutta High Court ordered both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED to investigate into the SSC recruitment scam. ED officials had seized Rs. 21 crore, foreign currency, gold jewellery and several property documents on Saturday after which the minister and his aide were arrested on Saturday.