ED attaches Partha Chatterjee’s properties worth Rs 48 cr in Bengal’s recruitment scam

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) attached assets worth around Rs 48 crore of ex-West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, in connection with the state teachers’ recruitment scam.

The ED attached 40 immovable properties worth around Rs 40.33 crore, along 35 bank accounts with a cumulative balance of Rs 7.89 crore—which added up to Rs 48.22 crore.

The properties include flats, one farmhouse, prime land in Kolkata, and bank balance.

Read | WBSSC Scam: CBI demands Partha Chatterjee's custody

The attached properties were “beneficially” owned by Partha Chatterjee—former minister in the West Bengal state government and suspended All India Trinamool Congress leader, and Arpita Mukherjee, who was considered Chatterjee’s associate.

In a statement, the ED mentioned that several of the attached properties were kept in the name of dummy companies, firms, and persons who acted as “proxy” for Chatterjee.

During the searches it carried out in July at two premises, the ED had seized Rs 49.80 crore in cash, gold and jewellery worth over Rs 5.08 crore.

After conducting searches at various other locations linked to the scam, the ED had arrested Chatterjee and Mukherjee in July this year. With the current attachments of properties and bank accounts, the total seizure in the under-investigation case stood at Rs 103.10 crore.

The ED was still investigating the case.