A team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials on Friday conducted searches at several places, including the residences of West Bengal Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee and Minister of State for Education Paresh Chandra Adhikary, in connection with alleged irregularities in recruitment carried out by State School Education Department.
The raids by the ED came a month after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered cases in the alleged recruitment scam on the instruction of the Calcutta High Court.
The ED officials reached the south Kolkata residence of Mr. Chatterjee, who is also the secretary-general of the Trinamool Congress, at 8 a.m. on Friday. The search continued till late in the evening. Mr. Chatterjee was the Minister of State for Education when the alleged irregularities occurred. The officials were accompanied by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who stood guard at his residence.
Another ED team conducted a search at Mr. Adhikary’s house in Cooch Behar district.
ED sources said the searches were conducted at 13 locations on Friday. Raids were also conducted at the residence of former Chairman of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, Manik Bhattacharya, and members of an advisory committee of the West Bengal School Service Commission, including its Chairman Santi Prasad Sinha, among others.
The ED is looking at money laundering angle in the alleged recruitment scam. The agency has also sought details of the case from the CBI. The issue of irregularities in recruitment for teaching and non-teaching staff in State-run schools have dominated the politics of the State for the past few months.
Mr. Chatterjee reportedly felt unwell as his statement was being recorded by the ED. A team of doctors checked on the Minister. A group of lawyers also visited his residence. The Trinamool Congress leadership described the ED raids as political vendetta.
“If any of our leaders suffer physically or mentally because of these motivated raids, then we will not spare the agencies. In the past, we have lost leaders like Subrata Mukherjee, Tapas Paul and Sultan Ahmed after they were pressurised by agencies,” State’s Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said.
