Bengal minister, aide arrested after ?21 cr raid; BJP, Trinamool spar| Top 5

An all out political war of words has erupted between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party after West Bengal cabinet minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the alleged teacher recruitment scam.

The minister, who was holding the education portfolio when alleged irregularities in the recruitment of secondary and primary teachers in schools run by the state government took place, was sent to two-day ED custody.

Here are top ten developments unfolding in Bengal.

1. West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee has now been taken to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata. His lawyers had requested the court that the TMC leader be allowed to be taken to the hospital. The court directed ED to take him to SSKM Hospital due to his medical condition. The central probe agency had appealed that Chatterjee may be taken to the command hospital.

2. While Partha Chatterjee remains hospitalised after being sent to ED custody, his close aide Arpita Mukherjee was arrested by the central probe agency. The ED said it had recovered cash worth more than ?21 crores from her residence in south Kolkata during raids on Friday.

ALSO READ: Who is Arpita Mukherjee, the aide of Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee?

3. The Trinamool Congress has said that it will punish Partha Chatterjee if he is found guilty. Bengal minister and Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim slammed the BJP, accusing it of misusing agencies.

4. BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh has claimed that another person named Monalisa Das is under ED scanner in connection with the school jobs scam. Ghosh alleged that under Das's name ten flats are registered and she is also linked to Bangladesh.

5. The BJP has launched an all out attack on the TMC following the minister's arrest. Union minister Anurag Thakur called the party a ‘mountain of corruption’, and accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee of being a mute spectator to the ‘scams’ unravelling in her state, PTI reported.