The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its investigation into the alleged SSC recruitment scam in West Bengal, summoning former state minister Partha Chatterjee and his close associate Arpita Mukherjee for questioning, official sources said.
According to ED sources, summons have been issued to both Partha and Arpita, asking them to appear between March 16 and 18 respectively in connection with the ongoing probe. Both are currently out on bail.
While the ED has earlier questioned them in the primary recruitment scam, this is the first time the agency will interrogate either of them specifically in the SSC-related case.
Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee were arrested in July 2022 in connection with the primary teacher recruitment scam. During extensive searches at that time, the ED recovered nearly Rs 50 crore in cash from two flats linked to Arpita Mukherjee, leading to their arrest.
Subsequently, Partha was arrested in both the SSC and primary recruitment scam cases being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). However, despite these developments, the ED had not previously questioned them in the SSC scam probe.
ED sources indicated that the agency is not limiting its investigation to Partha and Arpita alone. Several other individuals linked to the alleged irregularities are also likely to be summoned later this month.
The central agency is also planning to record statements of multiple job aspirants as part of its efforts to trace the alleged money trail and establish the broader network involved in the scam.
Partha Chatterjee, a suspended Trinamool Congress MLA, returned home in November last year after securing bail in all cases, spending three years and three months in jail.
In December, he sustained an injury to his left hand after slipping in the bathroom of his Naktala residence and was hospitalised for 25 days at a private hospital near the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass before being discharged on December 31.
Arpita Mukherjee was granted bail in November 2024 after spending two years and three months in judicial custody. She has not been arrested in any CBI case so far.