The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday recovered cash amounting to approximately Rs 21 crores from the residential premises of Arpita Mukherjee, an aide of Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee.
The money, seized from her flat at Tollygunge, is allegedly linked to an alleged scam in the recruitment of teachers and staff of governmet-aided schools in Bengal that came to light in 2021.
But who is Arpita Mukherjee? Sources in the ruling establishment describe her as Chatterjee's “close associate” who is also an actor. She has done minor roles in a few Bengali, Odishi and Tamil films.
Her Facebook bio reads, “A multi-talented versatile actor, having worked in several films in Tollywood.”
Arpita has acted in Bengali movies alongside Bengal superstars Prosenjit Chatterjee ('Mama Bhagne', 2009) and Jeet ('Partner', 2008).
She was also the face of promotional campaigns for Partha Chatterjee’s Durga Puja committee named Naktala Udayan Sangha in 2019 and 2020. The Naktala organisation is one of the biggest Durga Puja committees of Calcutta.
Arpita's mother, Minati Mukherjee, and friends say Arpita was into modelling and came in touch with Chatterjee a few years back when she was engaged as a model by a local club in Chatterjee’s neighbourhood during Puajs, according to hindustantimes.com.
Her mother stays in their ancestral house at Belgharia in North 24- Parganas. Arpita has another flat in a posh residential campus in Belgharia. One of her close friends said that she used to stay with her mother.
“She had come home 3-4 days back. She comes here frequently to take care of me. She was into modelling and used to take part in serials and films in Odisha. She was also associated with a production company,” said Arpita's mother Minati.
Asked whether she knew anything about the source of the huge amounts of money found at her home, Minati said no.
“How do I know how and where she got such a huge amount of money from? I came to know from the media. I also came to know from media that she was the face of a puja committee that was patronised by Partha Chatterjee,” she said.
