Birbhum: Federal agencies have arrested three TMC legislators as part of their investigation into an alleged scam, suspected of involvement in the scandal. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently conducted raids at five locations in West Bengal, including the residence of state minister Chandranath Sinha in Birbhum district, linked to the purported multi-crore school recruitment irregularities. Sinha, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker from Bolpur in Birbhum and serving as the state’s MSME and textiles minister, was not present during the raid. According to a senior official, simultaneous searches were carried out at five places in Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, and Birbhum. Among those targeted were the residences of a businessman and a tax consultant in Kolkata and North 24 Parganas. The scandal came under scrutiny in May 2022 when the CBI initiated an investigation following a directive from the Calcutta High Court, focusing on alleged illicit appointments in state-run schools.
Subsequently, the ED commenced a parallel probe to trace the financial transactions associated with the scam. Former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who had ordered the involvement of central agencies in the investigation, recently resigned from his position and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Apart from Chatterjee, three other TMC legislators have been detained in connection with the scam and are presently in judicial custody. Furthermore, TMC MP and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee underwent questioning by both the CBI and ED in relation to the same case in 2023. Last October, Abhishek Banerjee’s father, Amit Banerjee, and his wife, Lata Banerjee, siblings of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, evaded the agency’s summons citing health issues, while Rujira Banerjee, Abhishek’s wife, cooperated with investigators.
