'Partha Chatterjee not cooperating in probe'; Enforcement Directorate (ED) to seek extension of custody

KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which will produce Partha Chatterjee before a special court here on Wednesday, will inform the court how the former heavyweight Trinamool Congress is resorting to non-cooperation tactics at every stage of interrogation.

ED sources said that his non-cooperation will be the principal point of argument in seeking extension of Chatterjee's custody in connection with its probe into the multi-crore teacher recruitment scam in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC). "We have video recorded not just the entire interrogation process so far, but also Chatterjee's actions and body language when given spare time. He also refused to take medicines or consume food as per the diet chart. Our counsel might present some of these videos in the court, especially those related to interrogation," said an ED official.

ED sources further said that although the other arrested person in the case, Chatterjee's close aide Arpita Mukherjee, has started cooperating with the probe agency, the ED needs extension of her custody since it believes that she has more to reveal about the multi-crore teacher recruitment scam.

ED sources said that till now, Chatterjee and Mukherjee have been interrogated individually and in the next stage both will be questioned together. "We need to have the two in our custody for some more time for this purpose," the ED official said.

According to ED sources, Chatterjee is appearing to be ignorant about the source and ownership of the huge amount cash, gold and foreign currency seized from the two residences of Arpita Mukherjee.

The sources also said that during occasional interactions between the two in the presence of agency officials, Chatterjee has been extremely polite in his behaviour towards his close aide. (IANS)

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