Bengal minister arrested by ED over school jobs scam

West Bengal Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested on Saturday by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the probe into the alleged school job scam.

The TMC general secretary, who was the state education minister when the scam took place, was arrested after about 26 hours of grilling about the probe.
The ED must inform the Speaker before arresting any member of the assembly, speaker Biman Banerjee said.

“The ED or the CBI, while arresting any MP or MLA, must inform the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or Assembly. This is the constitutional rule. But I have not received any communication from ED regarding Chatterjee’s arrest,” he said.

The ED has also arrested Chatterjee’s close aide Arpita Mukherjee, from whose properties Rs 21 crore in cash has been seized.

“From Friday morning, Chatterjee was not cooperating with our officers who were interrogating him. He will be produced in the court during the day,” the ED official said.

The opposition BJP went hammer and tongs over the development and sought answers from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.