In a bizarre incident on Tuesday, a furious woman picked up her ‘chappal’ and hurled it at former West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee for his involvement in the Bengal SSC cash scam. The woman expressed her anger and said that poor people earned money after hard work but people like Partha were being taken around in expensive cars even after being exposed.
Kolkata | A woman hurled a shoe at former WB Minister Partha Chatterjee while being taken to the ED office from ECI Hospital
— ANI (@ANI) August 2, 2022
“I had come to throw my shoe on him. He has taken money from poor people. I would have been happier if the shoe would have hit him on his head,” she said pic.twitter.com/aiXru6mhrC
According to the reports, the incident happened when Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukharjee were being taken from the ESI hospital to the ED office after their regular medical check-up. The woman threw her slippers in the direction of the Minister though the target was missed. “I had come to throw my shoe on him. He has taken money from poor people. I would have been happier if the shoe would have hit him on his head,” she said while talking to the media.
The angry lady reiterated that Partha had duped common citizens and had laundered crores of rupees. She objected that why was he being provided luxury services even after being exposed to the cash scam. “Why is he allowed to use AC cars? Why is he given the wheelchair facility? Can’t he walk?”, she said expressing her frustration.
#BREAKING | Bengal cash scam: Angry woman picks up ‘Chappal’, hurls it at Partha Chatterjee; says ‘poor people earn money after hard work and people like Partha are being taken around in expensive cars’
— Republic (@republic) August 2, 2022
Watch here – https://t.co/GHt1M9X29M… pic.twitter.com/bYf2FoUczF
Meanwhile, Chaterjee’s close aide, Arpita revealed that the money recovered by ED from her apartments did not belong to her and that it was kept at her house in her absence. “The money does not belong to me, it was kept there in my absence”, she said. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier recovered more than Rs 50 crores in cash from her houses in Kolkata. After Arpita’s statements on August 2, the ED is again raiding her other premises in Kolkata.
Former Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, and his ‘close friend’ Arpita Mukherjee have been making headlines for their involvement in the multi-crore SSC recruitment scam case. During the ED raids, it has been found that Partha Chatterjee owns a large number of flats, many of which he has gifted to his ‘close aides’ including Arpita Mukherjee and Monalisa Das. Earlier, Arpita had told the ED that Partha Chatterjee used her flat as a ‘mini bank’.
The West Bengal Teacher’s recruitment scam, more commonly referred to as the SSC scam, looks into the recruitment process conducted through the State Level Selection Test (SLT) conducted by SSC from 2014 to 2016. Candidates who appeared for the State Level Selection Test (SLST) exam had alleged that many candidates who secured fewer marks ended up with higher ranks on the merit list. They further stated that the candidates who were not on the merit list were also sent appointment letters.
Also, in the year 2016, multiple allegations of corruption cropped up regarding the recruitment of Group C and Group D employees in secondary and higher secondary schools under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. The matter came to light in March this year after irregularities were noticed in the recruitment process of teachers in the state government schools.
Earlier, the single bench had ordered the CBI to interrogate the former chairman of the SSC advisory committee, SP Sinha, and other former members of the panel. The court had asked the CBI to file a report after interrogating the former members. In April, the CBI also registered an FIR against West Bengal Directorate of School Education former deputy director Alok Kumar Sarkar and unidentified officials of the SSC.
