Arpita Mukherjee has gone from being little known even in cine circles to being a name on everyone tongue in a span of few days.
Arpita Mukherjee shot to limelight over her alleged association with TMC leader Partha Chatterjee and reported recovery of cash from her property.
Arpita Mukherjee has gone from being little known even in cine circles to being a name on everyone tongue in a span of few days.
Mukherjee, a model and an actor, shot to limelight after it emerged that she is a close aide of senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, who is now under arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged involvement in the school recruitment scam in the state.
The alleged scam took place when Chatterjee was the education minister during 2014-21. It is alleged that illegal recruitment took place, people with lower marks ranked high in the merit list, and that Chatterjee took money to give jobs to people.
Mukherjee shot to limelight after ED raided one of her properties and recovered piles of cash there, totalling in excess of Rs 21 crore as per reports.
Since reports of seizure on Friday night, social media has gone abuzz with gossip about Mukherjee's alleged relationship with Chatterjee.
Arpita Mukherjee was active in Bengali and Odia film industries between 2008-14. She also did modelling.
Industry sources said Mukherjee hailed from a middle-class family in Belghoria in northern suburbs of Kolkata and was into modelling since college days, adding after her father's death, she was married to a businessman from Jhargram but not much is known about the marriage as she returned to Kolkata.
Mukherjee has acted in six Odia films. These films include 'Bande Utkala Janani', which was directed by Suvendu Swain, and Ashok Pati’s 'Prem Rogi'. Both the films were box office hits.
Mukherjee also acted in 'Kemiti a Bandhana', co-starred by Chandrachur Singh, and 'Mu Kana Ete Kharap' (2010) opposite Anubhav Mohanty. Her last Odia film was 'Raju Awara' in 2012.
Mukherjee had small roles in Bengali films such as 'Bhoot in Roseville', 'Jeena the endless love', 'Bidehir Khonje Rabindrahath', 'Mama Bhagne' and 'Partner'. She has seen in movies since 2014.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and filmmaker Sanghamitra Choudhury said she had cast Mukherjee in three movies before 2013, when she joined the BJP.
Choudhury told PTI, "She was a young, beautiful and talented actor from a humble background. I always tried to cast newcomers. We lost track after I joined BJP in 2013."
Choudhury said she later realised that "Mukherjee was overambitious".
Arpita Mukherjee was the brand ambassador of 2020 Durga Puja of Partha Chatterjee's Naktala Udayan Sangha. Purported photos and videos that have gone viral on social media show Mukherjee sharing the stage with Chatterjee and even Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
A photograph shared by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Twitter showed Mukherjee also attending TMC's July 21 Martyrs' Day rally.
However, PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the photos and videos.
Visuals of piles of cash recovered from Arpita Mukherjee's property by ED put the internet in shock and awe.
ED sources said despite having only limited success in the entertainment industry, Mukherjee owns a luxury apartment in Joka area of south Kolkata and she regularly frequented hookah bars in the city and also visited places such as Bangkok and Singapore.
On the purported recovery of cash from Mukherjee's apartment, BJP leader and filmmaker Sanghamitra Choudhury said, "I was totally taken aback to find her in such a mess. She might end up in jail. I feel sorry for her."
While being taken to the court on Sunday, Mukherjee, however, told reporters that she does not have association with any political party.
Mukherjee was arrested on Saturday and produced before a court, which remanded her to one-day ED custody.
(With PTI inputs)