Enforcement Directorate arrests Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee after Rs 20 crore seized from his close aide

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The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday arrested West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee in the investigation into the alleged corruption in the recruitment of teachers in the state.</p>
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The arrest of the minister comes a day after Rs 20 crore in hard cash was seized from the premises of his confidante Arpita Mukherjee.</p>
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"The said amount is suspected to be proceeds of crime of the SSC (School Service Commision) scam," the ED said in a statement.</p>
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Chatterjee, currently the state’s industry minister, was arrested by the ED officials from his residence in Kolkata.</p>
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While the ED is looking into the money trail in the scam, the CBI is investigating the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of staff and teachers in state-sponsored and aided schools.</p>
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Chatterjee, who was the education minister at the time, was interrogated by the CBI twice in May in connection with their investigation into the alleged scam. The Enforcement Directorate investigation is a sequel to the CBI probe.</p>
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The ED on Friday carried out raids at the residences of Chatterjee and Mukherjee and several others in connection with the case related to irregularities in the recruitment of teachers and non-teaching staff in the state government schools through the School Service Commission (SSC).</p>
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Apart from Chatterjee and Mukherjee, the ED raided Minister of State for Education Paresh C Adhikary, MLA Manik Bhattacharya and others.</p>
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Chatterjee, who is also the secretary general of TMC, was interrogated by the CBI after a division bench of the Calcutta High Court upheld orders of a single bench that directed the central investigation agency to probe the alleged illegal recruitment. </p>