The Mamata Banerjee-led-West Bengal government is under the national spotlight once again after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered a whopping ₹21.20 crores from the residence of actress Arpita Mukherjee on July 22.
Besides the cash, jewellery worth ₹20 lakhs, 22 mobile phones and ₹54 lakh worth of foreign currency were also seized by the central agency. Arpita was arrested on July 23 this year, hours after the arrest of TMC Minister Partha Chatterjee in the same case.
In a statement, the central agency said, “During the searches, the ED recovered cash amounting to approximately Rs 20 crore from the residential premises of Arpita Mukherjee, who is a close associate of Partha Chatterjee.”
ED is carrying out search operations at various premises linked to recruitment scam in the West Bengal School Service Commission and West Bengal Primary Education Board. pic.twitter.com/i4dP2SAeGG
— ED (@dir_ed) July 22, 2022
“The said amount is suspected to be proceeds from the said SSC (School Service Commission) scam,” it further added. The name of the actress has cropped up in a scam pertaining to the recruitment of candidates for the West Bengal Primary Education Board and West Bengal School Service Commission.
An actress by profession, Arpita Mukherjee has worked in Odia, Bengali and Tamil films. She has acted alongside Bengali superstars Jeet and Prosenjit Chatterjee in ‘Partner (2008)’ and ‘Mama Bhagne’ (2009) respectively.
Mukherjee’s close ties with the ruling Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal have dominated the public discourse since the ED’s raid, even though the party has tried to distance itself from her.
In its defence, party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “Trinamool Congress has no links with the money recovered by the ED. It is the responsibility of those individuals, whose names have surfaced in the scam, to answer questions posed to them.”
This is despite the fact that Arpita Mukherjee was the face of the Naktala Udayan Sangha, the Durga Puja committee of TMC leader Partha Chatterjee, in 2019 and 2020. A poster from the 2020 event is now doing the rounds of the internet.
To the party’s embarrassment, a 2019 video of Mamata Banerjee praising the scam-tainted actress had also gone viral on social media.
“Odishai kaaj koro. Valo more koro. oh, korte? (Arpita has worked in Orissa. Keep up the good work. You have worked in Odisha in the past?),” Mamta Banerjee was heard as saying.
“Odiya bolte paro valo more? Odisha te kaaj more Banglar meya…Agar baar o eschelo akhane… Bobby der okhane o jai (Can you speak Odiya? She is Bengal’s daughter who works in Odisha..She had come earlier too. She also visits Bobby [Firhad Hakim]),” the West Bengal CM remarked.
Citing sources, India Today had also reported that Partha Chatterjee frequently visited the residence of the actress. It was also confirmed by the security guard of Arpita Mukherjee’s flat.
According to her longtime friend Soumen Roy, the actress made a name in the industry through modelling. As her career progressed, she got into the nail art business and opened a few stores.
Soumen, who has been acquainted with Arpita Mukherjee since 2002, claimed that he has no idea about the money recovered from her home.
According to Arpita Mukherjee’s mother, she has no idea about the activities of her daughter besides modelling and acting. She informed that Arpita had visited her 3-4 days prior to the ED raid.
“She would come here once in a while and keep in touch…She had acted in several films in Odisha,” she said. “How would I know how Arpita got hold of such a stash of money? The law enforcement authorities will have knowledge about it,” she stated.
While speaking to TV9 Bangla, the elderly woman regretted that her daughter did not secure a central government job, unlike her husband. She said that if Arpita listened to her, then she would have married her off early.
Nonetheless, the Enforcement Directorate is looking into all aspects of the SSC (School Service Commission) scam case and tightening its noose around the accused.
