The Enforcement Directorate on Friday seized Rs 20 crore in cash after raiding the house of an aide of West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee in connection with an alleged teacher recruitment scam in the state. "Yeh toh bas trailer hai, picture abhi baki hai (This is just a trailer, the movie is yet to come)..." - was how senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari described the raids on Arpita Mukherjee, in one in a set of tweets he posted to attack the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state.
His salvo of tweets also had several photos of Ms Mukherjee with Mr Chatterjee and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. "'Guilty by Association' - a legal phenomenon used to describe when an individual is guilty of committing a crime through knowing someone else," the leader of opposition in the state captioned one of the photos.
pic.twitter.com/vJYI9RCBIt
— Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) July 22, 2022The probe agency also launched coordinated searches at the premises of Mr Chatterjee, the state industries and commerce minister, Minister of State for Education Paresh C Adhikary, MLA and ex-president of West Bengal Board of Primary Education Manik Bhattacharya and a number of other persons.
The Trinamool Congress described the raids as a "ploy" by the BJP government at the Centre to "harass" its political opponents. "This raid by ED, a day after the spectacular Martyrs' Day rally that created ripples all over the country, is nothing but an attempt to harass and intimidate leaders of the TMC," West Bengal Transport Minister Firhad Hakim said.
Photos of the raids showed piles of cash on the floor. The search teams were taking the assistance of bank officials for the counting of cash through counting machines.
Sharing a photo of the recoveries, Mr Akhikari alleged that the cash was found inside education ministry envelopes. "Sources claim that piles of cash were found inside WB Govt Education Ministry envelopes with National Emblem printed on them," he tweeted.
Tip of the iceberg? pic.twitter.com/jZgBEnuwh1
— Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) July 22, 2022Partha Chatterjee held the education portfolio when the alleged scam was reportedly pulled off. He was interrogated by the CBI twice, once on April 26 and then on May 18.
