There was a complaint from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from the beginning that Partha Chattopadhyay was not cooperating in the investigation. The answers to all the questions stuck mainly in these three phrases – ‘I don’t know’, ‘I can’t say’ and ‘I don’t remember’.
But on Tuesday, for the first time, the former education minister (now industry minister) said he wanted to cooperate in the investigation, according to a source in the central probe agency. He also told the ED officials that he would bring all the information before the investigators in time.
Not only this, ED sources claim that when asked from where and from whom he got the recommendations to appoint him in schools, the minister’s short reply was, “recommendations have come from all levels.” However, he did not reveal who they were. According to a group of investigating officers, the minister is being harassed continuously since Friday. He was taken to Bhubaneswar-AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) on Monday morning and returned to Kolkata on Tuesday morning. ED sources claimed that this time after some rest, he promised to give “correct” answers to all the questions on time.
According to a section of the investigating officers, Parth might have felt that the party was trying to sideline him. Partly if not completely. On the other hand, the problem escalated when the ED sent him to custody till August 3. Amid tensions that such a huge ‘scam’ has surfaced, the ED believes that the minister has given such an important signal by combining all these factors.
On this day the investigators interrogated Parth with a break of one hour in the afternoon and evening. A part of the conference room has been created for interrogation by bringing together several sofas around the minister. But according to ED sources, when asked about education-corruption, Parth once said, “everything cannot be taken care of” and added, “Even if something happened, it could have happened.” Sometimes he was heard saying, ‘Many things can go unnoticed. Later when this thing came to light, it was understood that corruption has happened. The ED officials are now finding it very important to bring out all these answers as well as the right information at the right time.