Model Arpita Mukherjee is from a middle-class Belghoria family in Kolkata. Arpita frequently appears in Naktala Udayan Sangha’s advertising and is one of the group’s promotional spokespersons.
Arpita describes herself as a model and actress in 2004. She began her career as a model and nail technician before breaking into Bengali cinema. After a few years of effort, Arpita Mukherjee was cast in a brief cameo in the Bengali movie “Mama Bhagne” (2010), “Bangla Banchao and “The Bhoot of Roseville”. She later went on to perform in Tamil and Odia movies. Arpita Mukherjee, according to her mother, also operates a production company.
In only a few days, Arpita Mukherjee went from being hardly recognized outside of the film industry to being a household name. She gained notoriety and is infamously known as the cash Queen after it came to light that she is a close aide of Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, who is currently being detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over allegations of involvement in the state’s school recruitment scam. Arpita Mukherjee gained infamy after the Enforcement Directorate searched one of her residences and reportedly found wads of cash there totaling more than Rs. 21 crores.
Arpita Mukherjee Association with Partha Chatterjee
Arpita Mukherjee has been seen frequently travelling with Partha Chatterjee to a variety of public and social events, such as the Durga Puja. In 2021, she was even included on the record cover of the puja’s music and participated in Partha Chatterjee’s campaign during the Bengal assembly elections in 2021.
Bengal Teacher SSC Recruitment Scam
The West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) announced in 2014 that teachers will be hired at state-run schools in West Bengal through the State Level Selection Test (SLST) or WBSSC exam, which is when the alleged fraud first surfaced. The Bengal SSC Scam took place when Partha Chatterjee was the Minister-in-Charge of the West Bengal Department of Higher Education and School Education in 2016.
Many test takers who received lower scores, according to the petitioners in the WBSSC exam, were listed highly on the merit list. Several claims also surfaced about the receipt of appointment letters in the Teacher Recruitment Scam by certain applicants who weren’t even on the merit list. Nevertheless, a number of complaints were submitted to the Calcutta High Court citing irregularities in the hiring procedure in the West Bengal Scam.
West Bengal SSC Exam Scam
The alleged swindle apparently occurred between 2014-21 while Partha Chatterjee served as education minister. Chatterjee is claimed to be involved in the scam that involves occurrence of unlawful hiring practices, candidates with lower test scores placed highly on the merit list, and accepted payment in exchange for placing candidates in employment.
Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee were arrested on Saturday, July 23, 2022, in connection with the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSCC exam) and West Bengal Primary Education Board recruitment fraud. Enforcement Directorate organized a raid on Chatterjee, Paresh Adhikari, and many other people’s home. Arpita Mukherjee’s ED raid at her property led to a discovery of a large amount of cash, estimated to be worth Rs 21 Crore.
The aforementioned sum was thought to be the revenues from the Bengal SSC Scam. For this purpose, a total of more than 20 mobile phones that were found inside Arpita Mukherjee’s ED raid at home, according to the investigation agency.
Along with cash, several additional condemning documents, records, information about shady businesses, technological gadgets, foreign money, and gold have also been found at the different locations where the scammers were staying. According to sources, the investigating agency also uncovered several WBSSC exam papers and student admission cards in Mukherjee’s flat and Partha Chatterjee’s home during the raids, as well as other property-related paperwork in Chatterjee’s home.
In compliance with the Calcultta High Court’s orders, Arpita Mukherjee and Partha Chatterjee were taken to the hospital on Friday for a medical checkup. They both made a theatrical spectacle while refusing to get out of the automobile. The authorities compelled them to travel to the hospital for their medical examination. This incident also led to a war of words between BJP and TMC.
After a large amount of cash was found at her home, Arpita is recognized as the “Cash Queen.” The investigators are currently looking for Cash Queen’s high-end vehicles as they tighten the noose around the former minister’s aide. According to rumours, her four expensive vehicles—an Audi A4, a Honda City, a Honda CRV, and a Mercedes Benz—have vanished. A substantial cash haul of around Rs 50 crore as well as gold bars worth more than Rs 5 crore have already been recovered by the ED.
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