WB SSC recruitment scam: Partha Chatterjee faces HUMILIATION in Kolkata jail, NOT allowed to participate in Durga Puja

Kolkata: Former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, who is an accused in the multi-crore West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam, has been denied permission to participate in the Durga Puja inside the Kolkata jail where he is currently lodged. According to the officials at the Presidency Central Correctional Home in south Kolkata, Partha faces a big threat to his life in jail and he is often ridiculed and humiliated by other jail inmates. 

While almost 2,500 inmates in Presidency Central Correctional Home in south Kolkata will be able to participate in the Durga puja organised jointly by the authorities and inmates within the jail premises, Partha will have to spend the majority of the time in his cell during the four days of Puja from October 1 to October 5. 

However, the former Bengal minister will not be denied the sumptuous delicacies, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, that the correctional home authorities are arranging for the inmates for the four days of the festival.

State Correctional Services Department sources said that the former state education minister was keen to participate in the Puja. "However, considering all security aspects, the correctional home authorities decided to deny him permission to participate in the occasion. Whatever little time, the former minister is brought out of his cell, he has to face ridicule or taunting messages from his fellow inmates in the correctional home. So, there is a security risk of allowing him to participate in the Puja even though it is within the jail premises. However, the prison authorities are trying their best to take him in front of the Durga idol for a short period of time. But for that they will have to ensure that the other inmates are in their respective cells or wards at that point in time," an official said, according to news agency IANS.

However, Partha is not the only inmate who has been denied permission to participate in Durga Puja. “Some other inmates like Aftab Ansari, a convict in the case of an attack of American Center in Kolkata in 2022, is yet another Presidency Central Correctional Home inmate who has not been allowed to participate in the Puja," the official added.

Arrested for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam, Chatterjee will be behind the bars till October 31, when he will be presented at a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court after his current judicial custody ends.