'So Much Money...': Crores Seized from His Employer's Home, But Arpita Mukherjee's Driver Remains Unpaid

ED enlists and looking into more properties

Kamalika Sengupta, News18.com: Pronab Bhattacharya arrived at his place of work in Diamond City South as usual at 11:30am on July 22. The sight he was met with ultimately led to a loss of job and non-receipt of this month’s salary. Around 10 officers of the Enforcement Directorate were trooped into the flat of his employer, Arpita Mukherjee.

That was the first raid by the Enforcement Directorate on a property owned by Mukherjee in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam case. Two more would follow on other properties, leading to the seizure of around Rs 50 crore in cash along with gold bars and ornaments, documents and coded diaries.

Pronab Bhattacharya has been working as a driver for Arpita Mukherjee for seven months. With his employer, an aide of sacked Trinamool Congress minister Partha Chatterjee, under arrest along with him, Bhattacharya is in a state of shock over the future.

Seven months ago, in frantic search for a job, Bhattacharya landed in the constituency office of Partha Chatterjee. He spent days trying to meet the minister and succeeded one fine day. He told Chatterjee of his need for a job and said he could work as a driver.

“A couple of days later, I got a call from sir’s office. The person on the other end said sir would be speaking to me. Then Partha Chatterjee sir told me to join in Diamond City South the next day. For me, it was a great opportunity. I joined took up the job,” Bhattacharya told News18.

He joined in January and says that for the last seven months, he has been driving Arpita Mukherjee around, mainly to her three salons. Bhattacharya said that often after work, Mukherjee used to visit Partha Chatterjee’s residence.

“She used to go to her parlour and, after work, she used to go to Partha Chatterjee’s residence sometimes. I used to leave the car at Chatterjee’s house and return home.”

Pronab Bhattacharya described his employer as a reserved person who didn’t talk much on the phone even while travelling. He revealed that a Mercedes Benz and another Honda City used to be parked at Mukherjee’s residence, but she never handed the keys to those cars to him. He also spoke of another flat in Diamond City South to house only dogs.

He said that when Arpita Mukherjee visited her Shantiniketan home along with her mother and sister, they were not accompanied by Chatterjee.

On the day his employment was thrown into jeopardy, Bhattacharya was asked by ED officials to sit in the balcony and his phone was taken from him too. He said he was “trembling” when the cash tumbled out.

“ED officials got busy with the money so I also stayed there one whole day. They were questioning madam and madam seemed to be upset. I am shocked. How is this possible… so much money?”

His mobile phone is still with the ED. He says he was asked to collect it but the officials were not present when it went there.

Its cruel irony that currency notes worth crores were seized from his employer’s home, but Bhattacharya hasn’t been paid yet and, to make matters worse, has lost his job.

With the responsibility of his mother, wife and family on him, Pronab will have to look for a new job now. But it’s his last one that he says he will never forget.

Courtesy & source- News18

Eye-popping ill-gotten wealth

Here’s a list of properties registered in the names of Partha Chatterjee, Arpita and benamis the ED is looking into

7 houses in Bolpur. A whole floor of 4,000 sq ft in Santiniketan.

4 flats in Diamond City.

2 flats in Belgharia Club Town.

1 flat in Baranagar.

2 flats in Newtown.

1 house at Sonarpur.

A Palatial house at Jangipara, Hooghly.

A school on land worth Rs 45 crore plus construction cost Rs 50 crore.

A land for a pet hospital measuring 12,240 sq ft near Bagha Jatin Railway Station, Kolkata.

25 bigha land in Baruipur.

Farmhouse in Singur, Hooghly.

Guest house at Sunderbans.

Resort near Sajnekhali bird sanctuary.

Resort in a Sunderbans island.

Farmhouse in Jhargram.

Farmhouse at Baruipur, South 24 Parganas.

10 bigha land at Bantala Leather Complex worth Rs 24 crore.

24 acres land in Jharkhand.

Dumpers running in Burdwan for sand mining.

Investment in a parlour and garment chain.

Building of an entertainment company.