From grand celebrations to a dark cell: Partha Chatterjee's lonely 70th birthday
India Today
Former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee spent his 70th birthday behind bars for the first time in his life, with no one on the visitors list to wish him, sources said.
Every year on October 6, the Naktala residence of former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee in South Kolkata used to witness a crowd of guests. Many influential people associated with the education sector, including vice-chancellors of state-run universities, used to gather at his residence to celebrate his birthday.
On October 6 this year, however, Partha Chatterjee spent his 70th birthday behind bars, with no one coming to visit him, sources said. Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the last week of July in connection with the alleged teachers recruitment scam. He is currently lodged in the Presidency Jail in Kolkata.
Sources close to one of Partha Chatterjee's associates said that every year, the former minister used to celebrate his birthday at his residence with his "close friend" Arpita Mukherjee being his companion. Arpita is a co-accused in the teachers recruitment scam.
Also Read | Partha Chatterjee made huge cash through illegal activities, hid it in Arpita Mukherjee's house: ED
To celebrate Partha Chatterjee's birthday, the influential people of the education sector used to join him at his house in south Kolkata every year. Sources said that the former minister used to get many gifts, starting with gold buttons, gold pens, roses, Bangladeshi Kurta, etc.
According to sources, last year alone, the number of cakes brought for him was more than a hundred.
People also gifted him home-made delicacies, including rice pudding and his favourite hilsa fish or mutton.
