Kolkata: Taking a dig at heavyweight Trinamul Congress minister and Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee, his estranged wife Ratna Chatterjee on Wednesday spilled the beans saying that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) did not book her because she did not take money in the Narada sting operation case.
“Did I take money from Narada? Was my name among the list of accused in Narada case? There is no blot on my track record. That is why I have not been booked in the case. I have my own business which I run,” Ms Chatterjee said while giving herself clean chit.
Her comments assume significance as Mr Chatterjee was summonned and questionned by the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Narada case in which he was shown allegedly accepting cash in one of the sting footages which were later certified as authentic by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory.
After he was questionned, his wife was called by the ED for grilling. Ms Chatterjee added, “I was called by the ED as he (Mr Chatterjee) told it and the CBI that I knew everything when asked about the money by the investigators.
“Later, I came to know from a reliable source that he was advised to take my name so that he could escape.”
She however claimed that she would not disclose who advised Mr Chatterjee, who is the fire minister with two other key portfolios: housing and environment to take her name to the ED and CBI.
According to Ms Chatterjee, she knows Baishakhi Banerjee, a friend of her husband, barely for the past one and a half years.
On the divorce case underway against her at the court, Ms Chatterjee said, “He has filed the case. But I will not give him the divorce because my children need their father.”
Meanwhile Ms Banerjee, a college professor who was removed from the post of WEBCUPA general secertary, came out in support of the Kolkata mayor.
“I interacted with Ms Chatterjee many times. I do not know why she refused to acknowledge our friendship. She perhaps is suffering from memory loss. I have known her husband since 2011. Mr Chatterjee is such a person who remembers if he gets even a little help from any person. He will be my friend always,” she claimed.
