BANKURA: Former Trinamool Congress minister and ex-chairman of Bishnupur municipality Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was arrested on Sunday for allegedly being involved in financial irregularities to the tune of nearly Rs 10 crore.
Mukherjee had joined the BJP in November 2020, but didn’t get a ticket to contest the assembly polls. He was earlier MoS textiles and housing departments. He lost the 2016 state polls on a Trinamool ticket.
Mukherjee, who was the Bishnupur municipality chairman for five terms since 1990, was found to be involved in corrupt practices in tender processing that involved defalcation of Rs 9.9 crore, Bankura SP Dhritiman Sarkar said.
Bihsnupur SDO Anup Kumar Nanda had filed a complaint with police for irregularities in the tender process during Mukherjee’s tenure as chairman. “We came to know about defalcation of Rs 9.9 cr. He was arrested as he failed to answer us properly. He was sent to court praying for police custody,” Sarkar said. A local court remanded him in police custody for four days. The SP said Mukherjee has been charged under Sec 404 (dishonest misappropriation), 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of IPC.
Defence counsel Gouri Prasad Biswas, pleading for bail, said Mukherjee had been falsely implicated. He also stated that Mukherjee was sick and a senior citizen.
District Trinamool chairman Shyamal Santra said Mukherjee had passed bills without doing any work. “He submitted utilization certificates but no work was done. The law will take its own course,” he said.
BJP district president Sujit Agasty said: “What Shyama Prasad Mukherjee did was while he was in Trinamool. So why were the administration and police so late in acting?”
The CBI had earlier questioned Mukherjee for his alleged role in a deal with Sarada while selling a cement factory.
