New Delhi: A Sessions Court in Kolkata on Thursday extended the judicial custody of former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee till August 31 over their alleged connection in the SSC recruitment scam, news agency ANI reported.
According to the report, they were brought to the Sessions Court earlier in the day where Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed the bail plea of Chatterjee. The court reserved the order.
It is to be noted that Partha Chatterjee, who was sacked as minister and suspended from TMC last month, and his aide Arpita Mukherjee, were arrested by the ED on July 23. Chatterjee held the portfolio of the Industry Minister in Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government.
As per reports, Arpita Mukherjee had told the ED that the crores of rupees recovered by the agency was slipped into her residences without her knowledge.
Earlier, Chatterjee had said that he was a "victim of a conspiracy" and expressed displeasure over the TMC's decision to suspend him.
The veteran TMC leader had also said that only time would tell if the action against him was justified. Both Chatterjee and Mukherjee have said that the money recovered did not belong to them.
Notably, the ED on July 23 had seized more than Rs 21 crore in cash, along with gold jewellery worth crores of rupees, from Mukherjee’s flat.
The probe agency had also recovered unaccounted money worth Rs 27.9 crore and gold ornaments and foreign exchange, from another flat linked to Mukherjee, on July 27, as per reports.