The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids at the residences of three Trinamool Congress leaders, including West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose, in connection with alleged irregularities in recruitment across municipalities in the State.
Raids were also held at the residence of Trinamool Congress MLA Tapas Roy and former chairperson of North Dumdum Municipality Subodh Chakraborty’s residence in connection with the alleged scam.
The ED team accompanied by personnel of central armed forces arrived at the residence of the Minister in Lake Town area of North 24 Parganas, the MLA’s residence at B.B. Ganguly Street in Kolkata and Mr. Chakraborty’s residence in Birati in North 24 Parganas. The raids started early in the morning and continued for over 12 hours in the evening.
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The municipal recruitment scam came to the fore during investigation in the West Bengal school jobs scam when the ED recovered documents relating to recruitment in municipalities from the premises of an accused, Ayan Sil. The Calcutta High Court in April 2023 directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the irregularities in the recruitment of municipalities. Both the ED and the CBI are probing into the irregularities in the recruitment of staff in municipalities.
The raids on Friday came a week after the attack on the ED team at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas on January 5 during investigation in connection with irregularities in the State’s public distribution system (PDS).
Heavy protection
On Friday, the personnel of central armed forces were equipped with extra protection gear like helmets and automatic guns during the raids. During the day, the West Bengal police arrested two persons in connection with the Sandeshkhali violence and produced them before a court. The prime accused in the attack on ED personnel on January 5, Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan remains absconding, seven days after the incident.
The raids and searches at the Trinamool leaders’ premises also triggered a political war of words.
State Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) president Sukanta Majumdar said that the ED actions should have happened earlier. Mr. Majumdar raised questions about the increase in wealth of Trinamool leaders including Mr. Bose.
Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that the raids are aimed at targeting the State’s ruling party before Lok Sabha election. “Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has given responsibility of certain Lok Sabha seats to Sujit Bose. Now, the BJP is targeting him ahead of Lok Sabha polls. This is a vendetta by the BJP to create a narrative ahead of the Lok Sabha polls,” the Trinamool leader said.
