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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has found around Rs 29 crore in cash and five kilograms of gold jewellery from the second flat of Arpita Mukherjee in Kolkata during a raid in connection with a school jobs scam.
Arpita is a close aide of arrested West Bengal Industries and Commerce Minister Partha Chatterjee.
The probe agency officials left the flat located in the Belgharia area early Thursday with 10 trunks of cash after concluding the 18-hour-long raid, reports NDTV.
ALSO READ - West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee arrested in scam case
Sources said that the ED officials used three note-counting machines to know the exact amount of cash seized from Arpita’s second flat.
Partha Chatterjee and Arpita were arrested on July 23, a day after the first lot of cash was discovered at her home.
During last week's raid, the probe agency officials seized Rs 21 crore in cash, a huge amount of foreign exchange and gold bars worth Rs 2 crore from Arpita’s other flat in the city.
They also found a diary with around 40 pages of notes that could provide crucial leads in the investigation.
So far, Rs 50 crore in cash has been seized from the two homes of Arpita. Some crucial documents have also been seized that are being examined by the authorities.
The raids were carried out as part of the ED's investigation into a money laundering case linked to a school jobs scam in the state.
Partha Chatterjee, a senior minister in West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's cabinet and her close aide, is accused of having a role in allegedly illegal appointments of school teachers and staff in government-run schools when he was an education minister.
Arpita has reportedly told investigators that the money was kickback received for transfers and helping colleges get recognition.
"Partha used my house and that of another woman as a mini-bank. That other woman is also his close friend," she reportedly told investigators.
On Wednesday, the probe agency also questioned Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya, a former president of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education.
Facing opposition's ire over Partha’s arrest, Mamata Banerjee last week said that she doesn't support corruption and that the arrested minister should be punished if found guilty.
"If anyone is found guilty, he or she must be punished, but I condemn any malicious campaign against me. The truth must come out, but within a time frame," she said.
