Arpita Mukherjee’s life is under threat; food and water must be tested before serving her: ED tells the court.

On Friday, the ED officials informed the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court that Former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee’s aide Arpita Mukherjee’s life was under threat. “She should not be kept with more than four prisoners in general. There is a grave threat perception to her,” the ED told the court.

The ED on Friday prayed for 14 days’ judicial remand for Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee for interrogation over their involvement in the school jobs scam case. The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers and non-teaching staff in the state-run schools through the School Service Commission (SSC). ED’s counsel told the court, “We have come to know from intelligence input that Arpita Mukherjee has specific threat perception, but there is no threat perception in the case of Partha Chatterjee.” 

They were arrested after the ED captured more than Rs 21 crore in cash, along with gold jewelry worth crores, from Arpita Mukherjee’s flat. The probe agency also retrieved unaccounted money worth Rs 27.9 crore and gold ornaments and foreign exchange from another flat linked to Arpita Mukherjee on July 27.

The ED’s lawyer said, “On November 1, 2012, Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee entered into partnership and formed a company. We have also been enquiring whether this firm was also involved in money laundering or not. We have also recovered phone data for a few periods that need to be confronted by Partha Chatterjee. So we request the court to send them to judicial custody”.