West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee hospitalised after arrest by ED in school jobs scam

West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee. Pic/PTI

West Bengal Industry and Commerce Minister Partha Chatterjee, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday morning in connection with the school jobs scam, was hospitalised in the evening after he fell ill.

The minister was arrested following a marathon 26-hour-long grilling at his house, an ED official said.

The Trinamool Congress said that the party and the government will take action against arrested senior minister Partha Chatterjee if he is proven guilty of the scam.

In a press conference held around nine hours after Chatterjee's arrest, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also made it clear that presently the party would not remove him as a cabinet minister or the secretary general of the Trinamool Congress.

After arresting Chatterjee, the central agency produced him in a local court that sent to ED custody for two days.

His lawyer argued in the court that since no unaccounted money and documents have been found at his residential premises but at the house of a person not connected with TMC or the government, he should be granted bail, which the ED lawyers of the directorate opposed.

His counsel told reporters that as it was a Saturday, he would be again produced before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Monday.

In the evening, Chatterjee who has several health issues was admitted to the ICCU of the state-run SSKM Hospital after he complained of uneasiness.

Several tests including ECG were conducted on the TMC secretary general and his condition is stable, an official of the hospital said. The TMC secretary general was the state education minister when the alleged irregularities took place.

ED also arrested Arpita Mukherjee, believed to be Chatterjee's close aide, from whose flat around Rs 21 crore in cash was seized during a raid on Friday, the agency official said.

The TMC spokesperson said that the party has no relation with her or the money discovered from her flat.

Chatterjee, who was the state education minister from 2014 to 2021, was grilled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April and May this year in connection with the scam.

The TMC, which has maintained a stoic silence on the issue throughout the day, held a press conference in the evening.

"We have full faith in the judiciary. If Partha Chatterjee is pronounced guilty by the court, then the party and the government will take action against him," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

Speaker Biman Banerjee said that the ED must inform the speaker before arresting a member of the assembly.

"The ED or CBI, while arresting any MP or MLA, has to inform the speaker of the Lok Sabha or the state assembly. This is the constitutional norm. But I have not received any communication from the ED about Chatterjee's arrest," he said.

The opposition BJP went hammer and tongs over the development and demanded a reply from the chief minister.

The arrest reflects the "Bengal model of development" practised by TMC leaders, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar claimed.

The BJP youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, staged protest rallies across the state against the scam.

Meanwhile, a group of protestors, who have been on a sit-in demonstration for more than 450 days at the Gandhi statue at Mayo Road in the city, welcomed the arrest and hoped that justice would be delivered soon.

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