Former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee, who were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a school jobs scam, were on Thursday sent to another 14 days of judicial custody. A sessions court in Kolkata said the duo will have to be produced in court again on August 31.
Earlier in the day, Mr Chatterjee had said on his way to court: “No one will be exempted. Everything will be proven in time.” He hinted at exposing others involved in the scam but refused to specify.
Ahead of their court date, Mr Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee were questioned by the Enforcement Directorate separately on Wednesday.
The former Trinamool Congress minister has requested bail on medical grounds. “If he is kept in custody any longer, he won’t be able to receive any medical assistance. His life will be in danger. Nothing has been recovered from Chatterjee’s possession so far,” his lawyer argued. He claimed that Mr Chatterjee’s haemoglobin count was low and the level of creatinine in his body had increased.
He had difficulty walking alone without assistance, the lawyer claimed.
The Enforcement Directorate said Mr Chatterjee’s custody needed to be extended as he was not cooperating with the investigating agency and he had tried to destroy incriminating documents during interrogation.
