Arrested Trinamul leader Partha Chatterjee, who was produced in a city court on Thursday, said “no one will be spared, no one will be spared” while he was being taken to the police lock-up in the court compound after the hearing.
Many in the vicinity, mostly Enforcement Directorate officers and lawyers, said they heard Chatterjee uttering these words.
“It appeared more like a monologue. He was not talking to anyone in particular but it was loud enough to be heard from a few metres away,” said an ED officer.
Chatterjee, who was arrested by the ED on July 23, has been charged with money laundering in the case related to alleged irregularities in recruitments for government-aided schools.
The ED allegedly seized around Rs 50 crore, jewellery, property documents and other valuables from properties belonging to Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee, whom the agency has described as his close associate.
A few weeks ago, Chatterjee had said during one of his visits to hospital that the money did not belong to him and that it was “a conspiracy”.
The court on Thursday extended Chatterjee’s judicial remand till August 31. Outside, speculation swirled about who all Chatterjee had in mind when he said “no one will be spared”.
An ED officer said Chatterjee had “not been cooperating” with the investigators and did not even sign on the list of things the agency said were seized from his Naktala home.
“Investigations have revealed that the proceeds of crime have travelled through a trust formed by Chatterjee’s family members. The funds received and properties acquired by the trust need to be further investigated, for which we need him in judicial remand,” the officer said.
The agency submitted in the court that it had found more than 60 bank accounts that were used for money laundering.
“Crores of rupees have been credited to the accounts of shell companies, which exist only on paper,” said ED lawyer Abhijit Bhadra.
ED officers also said the “nexus between Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee” was clear from the electronic evidence they have collected.
“There is evidence that Partha Chatterjee used to receive all text messages related to the 31 LIC policies that were in the name of Arpita Mukherjee. Hence, there is no doubt that the money found in Mukherjee’s flats was proceeds of malpractices of both Chatterjee and Mukherjee,” Bhadra said.
The ED also submitted in the court that scrutiny of the seized documents had revealed that a farmhouse at Dhopagachi in North 24-Parganas was owned by M/s APA Utility Services, which is owned jointly by Chatterjee and Mukherjee.
Chatterjee’s lawyers submitted a bail petition citing his health condition. “My client is 70 and suffers from a number of critical ailments that need specialised treatment. We had submitted in writing about his health condition, according to the reports of doctors at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, SSKM and ESI Joka. My client is under threat because of his deteriorating health condition. But unfortunately, this was not considered,” said Chatterjee’s lawyer Sukanya Bhattacharya.
After hearing both sides, the court sent Chatterjee to judicial remand till August 31 and granted permission to the central agency to examine Chatterjee inside the jail.
