Dial ‘M’ to Get Ghosted? Chatterjee's 4 Calls to ‘Friend, Philosopher, Guide’ Mamata Went Unanswered

Dial 'M' to Get Ghosted? Chatterjee's 4 Calls to 'Friend, Philosopher, Guide' Mamata Went Unanswered

By: Kamalika Sengupta

Last Updated: July 26, 2022, 16:57 IST

Kolkata, India

A file photo of Partha Chatterjee (extreme right) with WB CM Mamata Banerjee. (Twitter)

The ED on Tuesday grilled arrested Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee over the school jobs scam. WB CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she doesn't support corruption and wouldn't mind "if life imprisonment is awarded to those who are guilty"

At 2.32 am, 2.33 am, 3.35 am and 9.35 am – This is the log of West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee's unanswered calls to Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee as he was being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 23 in connection with the School Service Commission (SSC) scam.

The ED on Tuesday grilled arrested Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee over the school jobs scam.

Banerjee on Monday said she doesn't support corruption and wouldn't mind "if life imprisonment is awarded to those who are guilty".

The duo is in ED custody till August 3.

News18 gets the detailed account of the ED raid, the calls and the subsequent arrest:

July 22, 8 am: The ED raids Chatterjee's residence. Sources say they searched every room, every single corner, even as Chatterjee was being questioned.
10.30 pm: A senior officer joins in for rigorous questioning, while Chatterjee's lawyer waits downstairs.
July 23, 1.55 am: Chatterjee is arrested, as 8 men and 20 women officials, and 10 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials take control of his residence.
According to the rules, an arrested person has the right to inform a family member or a friend about it.ED sources say when Chatterjee was asked who he would like to call, he replied: "Mamata Banerjee."When ED officials asked him if he meant "the Honourable Chief Minister", he replied: "Yes."
According to sources, Chatterjee said that his daughter does not stay here and that Mamata Banerjee was "friend, philosopher and guide".
NOT A GOOD CALL? Chatterjee tried to FaceTime Banerjee around 2.32 am, then around 2.33 am. The calls went unanswered. ED officials then called the lawyer and asked him to sign the document, which the lawyer refused saying that only a relative or friend can sign and he was the lawyer. Sources say initially the seizure list was given to the lawyer, but later it was taken back.The ED officials got angry, but Chatterjee consoled them, said sources. Again around 3.35 am, he tried Banerjee's number, but the call went unanswered.The ED officials then wrote in the arrest memo that Chatterjee tried to reach the CM, but he refused to sign it.
9.35 am: ED sources said Chatterjee again tried the CM's number. When asked by the media, he said he wanted to reach his leader, but could not get through to her.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SSCRecruitmentScamCase?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SSCRecruitmentScamCase</a>: More trouble mounts for Partha Chatterjee, fresh allegations levelled against him; <br><br>TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya summoned by ED. <a href="https://twitter.com/KamalikaSengupt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KamalikaSengupt</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Sougata_Mukh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sougata_Mukh</a> with details<br><br>Join the broadcast with <a href="https://twitter.com/akankshaswarups?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@akankshaswarups</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WestBengal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WestBengal</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SSCRecruitmentScamCase?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SSCRecruitmentScamCase</a> <a href="https://t.co/E2K7oYOM2T">pic.twitter.com/E2K7oYOM2T</a></p>— News18 (@CNNnews18) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNnews18/status/1551879077833089024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8″></script>