KOLKATA: After Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Partha Chatterjee in connection with the multi-crore SSC Scam, rumours were rife of the party abandoning the Bengal minister.
Now, the arrest memo, which was accessed by The New Indian, suggested that Chatterjee had tried to reach TMC supremo and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee four times during his 27-hour long questioning by the ED.
The New Indian accessed the arrest memo (ECIR No. ECTR/KL20-11/19/2022) of Chatterjee that has a mention of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with her phone number and the exact time of when he tried to contact Banerjee.
In the column ‘name of relative/friend who the person take in custody intends to inform’, the arrest memo mentions: “Ms Mamata Banerjee, Honorable CM, WB.”
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“He called her but she didn’t take the call. Another opportunity was given but she didn’t take the call again,” states the memo.
All together Chatterjee tried to contact her four times at 2:32 am, 2:33 am, 3:37 am, and 9:35 am on July 24, it mentions.
Partha refused to receive the arrest memo, as per investigating officer Mithilesh Kumar Mishra, ED’s assistant director of Kolkata zone.
The allegations section reads “involved in offence of money laundering as defined under section 3 of PMLA, 2002”.
“I tried to connect (with her) but did not get through,” the minister said while coming out from ESI hospital after his medical test on July 23.
An arrest memo is a procedure that involves asking the person to be arrested for the name and contact number of one person whom he/she might wish to contact while in custody.
Chatterjee, however, refused to receive the arrest memo.