Who Is Arpita Mukherjee, Partha's Aide From Whose Flats Rs 50 Cr Was Recovered?

Producers: Debayan Dutta, Shohini Bose

Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan

As the Enforcement Directorate's investigation into the SSC scam in West Bengal continues, it has brought about the downfall of the Trinamool Congress' de facto number three, Partha Chatterjee, with as much as Rs 50 crore being recovered in cash and gold from the apartments of his 30-year-old aide and model Arpita Mukherjee.

Both of them were arrested on Saturday, 23 July, in connection with the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers, clerks, and staff in government-run schools.

But how did Mukherjee, an actor and Instagram influencer, whose videos are now being run on news channels alongside visuals of heaps of cash, get involved with the TMC heavyweight.

Here’s what we know.

Pandals and Pujo

Chatterjee, a mishti-loving leader who adores cellphones, technology, and above all, Durga Pujo, was a regular attendee at these pujos with his daughter Sohini and his wife Jayashree, who has since passed away.

In fact, he is the chairman of the Naktala Udayan Sangha in Kolkata, famous for its themed Durga Pujo pandals across the city. It is alleged that this is where Chatterjee first met actor and model Arpita Mukherjee.

Mukherjee is a model hailing from a middle-class family in Kolkata’s Belghoria. She is one of the faces of the promotional campaigns of Naktala Udayan Sangha and has featured extensively in its advertisements. She had replaced Rituparna Sengupta as the face of the Sangha.

She started off as a model and nail artist and made her way into the Bengali film industry, having done minor roles in films like Mama Bhagne, Bangla Banchao, The Bhoot of Roseville, and more. Later, she went on to act in Odia and Tamil films. Her mother Minati Mukherjee claims that Arpita also owns a production house.

In 2019, Mukherjee shared the stage with TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and Chatterjee. Now, a video from the same pujo celebration is being used to link the actor with the party, citing the praises CM Banerjee had sung for Mukherjee, “Arpita is doing films in Odia… She is a Bengali girl. She is doing well. I told her to work sincerely.”

Politics and Plots

As per TMC sources quoted by The Indian Express, in an attempt to garner more votes, the TMC had brought into its fold several celebrities – Chiranjeet Chakraborty, Dev Adhikary, Nusrat Jahan, and Mimi Chakraborty, to name a few. Hence, Mukherjee often shared a stage packed with politicians and celebrities during events.

In fact, in the 2021 Assembly polls, Mukherjee campaigned for at least three candidates of the TMC, including Food Minister Rathin Ghosh in Madhyamgram and Aniruddha Biswas in Kalyani. Biswas said, “Both Partha Da and Arpita campaigned for me. The campaign and their public meetings were organised by the party,” The Indian Express reported.

So far, ED has conducted raids at four of Mukherjee’s residences – two apartments in ‘Club Town Heights,' a building near the Kamarhati municipality office, and her ancestral house in Belgharia about fifteen minutes away.

On Thursday morning, ED seized nearly Rs 30 crore cash and gold ornaments weighing over five kilograms. No recovery was made from the second flat, said the officials of the agency.

Last Friday, the probe agency officials had recovered Rs 21 crore in cash, gold bars worth Rs 2 crore, and a huge amount of foreign exchange notes from another flat owned by Mukherjee in the Diamond City condo in Kolkata's Tollygunge.

The TMC, meanwhile, has made it clear that Mukherjee has no relation whatsoever with the party.

(With inputs from The Indian Express.)