Theft at Bengal Minister’s home, locals mistake it for another ED raid, valuables stolen

KOLKATA: A theft has taken place at the residence of former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the SSC recruitment case. According to the police, the thieves took numerous valuable items from the house. The locals in the area had seen the thieves breaking into the house. However, they mistook them for another ED raid. What all things were stolen can be identified only after a detailed inspection, said the police.

Partha Chatterjee, who served as the education minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, was arrested by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged teacher recruitment scam in government and aided schools in the state. The scam took place in the appointments made through the West Bengal School Service Commission and the West Bengal Primary Education Board. Earlier, the ED officials had seized Indian currencies worth Rs 21.9 crore, in addition to foreign currencies worth Rs 56 lakhs and unaccounted gold ornaments worth Rs 76 lakh from Mukherjee's Tollygunge flat. The SSC recruitment scam is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as per the high court’s directive. The ED intervention runs parallel to the CBI probe.