Shyama Prasad Mukherjee held for 'misappropriation' of civic funds

The arrest was made after Bishnupur subdivisional officer Arup Kumar Dutta had lodged an FIR with the police on August 20

Shyamaprasad Mukherjee after his arrest on Sunday.: Rupesh Khan

Snehamoy Chakraborty   |   TT  |  (Birbhum)   |  23.08.21: Police on Sunday arrested Shyamaprasad Mukherjee, who was a member of the first Mamata Banerjee cabinet and chairman of the Bishnupur municipality for over 30 years, for allegedly misappropriating civic funds of around Rs 10 crore.

Mukherjee had left the Trinamul Congress and joined the BJP last year, along with Suvendu Adhikari. But having faced stiff resistance within the saffron camp, Mukherjee had been pleading with the Trinamul leadership to let him rejoin the party.

The arrest was made after Bishnupur subdivisional officer Arup Kumar Dutta had lodged an FIR with Bishnupur police on August 20.

“Following the complaint of misappropriation of government funds, we first detained him for interrogation yesterday. As he did not satisfy police with his answers related to the financial scam, we had to take him into our custody to inquire into the case and track the money trail by probing his property deals,” said Dhritiman Sarkar, the superintendent of Bankura police.

Mukherjee, 70, was produced in the Bishnupur subdivisional court which remanded him in police custody for four days.

“He had embezzled Rs 10 crore by floating faulty tenders for 30-odd projects already completed by the Bishnupur municipality. We will interrogate Mukherjee to know where he spent the money. We will look into his movable and immovable properties and find out whether the politician gave the illegal money to others,” said a police source.

While he was being taken to Bishnupur court, Mukherjee said he was in the dark regarding the charges against him.

Mukherjee, a known face in Bankura politics as the longest-serving chairman of Bishnupur municipality, was the housing minister in the first Trinamul government in 2011. He later became the minister of women and child welfare and eventually of textiles.

The former minister started looking to switch to the BJP as a follower of fellow Trinamul turncoat Adhikari after he had been removed as the chairperson of the board of administrators at the Bishnupur municipality in March last year.

Trinamul leaders said they suspected that a share of the money was used in political activities after he joined the BJP.

“He is accused of defalcating taxpayers’ money and the arrest of Mukherjee proves that our government does not spare anyone involved in financial scams. He is now with the BJP and we want a thorough probe to find out whether there are any other beneficiaries of the money, including politicians or officials. We hope the police will expose all those who benefited and none will be spared,” said Alok Mukherjee, Trinamul’s Bishnupur organisational district.

BJP leaders suspect there is a political conspiracy behind the arrest as Mukherjee is now in their party.

“The arrest appears to be the outcome of a political conspiracy as it was made today though the allegation had cropped up over a year ago. Anyone can understand why such a complaint was lodged,” said Sujit Agasty, the BJP chief of the Bishnupur organisational district.

Mukherjee had joined the BJP in December last year in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah.

Sources in the BJP said the inclusion of Mukherjee in their party had been a headache for them since local leaders and workers did not accept him for his long connection with Trinamul.

BJP workers openly protested Mukherjee’s induction and he was driven away when he turned up at the party office in Bishnupur. Later, posters were put up, allegedly by BJP old-timers, warning the party of trouble if Mukherjee was nominated from Bishnupur in the Assembly polls. Sensing the mood, the BJP did not make him a candidate and Mukherjee has not been active since the summer.

Left in the lurch, Mukherjee made a futile attempt to meet Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee on March 15 during her visit to Durgapur. He was refused an audience.

“He joined the party with Suvenduda, but he was not with us politically. He also tried to join Trinamul before the elections and attempted to meet chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Durgapur. However, we are sympathetic towards him as he is a veteran politician,” Agasty added.