Supreme Court verdict out, ED probe into West Bengal job scam to shift gears

NEW DELHI: The SC judgment cancelling recruitment of more than 25,000 teachers by West Bengal govt is likely to spur on Enforcement Directorate to speed up the investigation it had to pause into cases of alleged money laundering against TMC functionaries.

"The investigation, which was stalled because case was pending in SC, will be pursued with vigour, and wrongdoers will be punished," an official associated with the probe said, asserting the SC verdict marked a validation of EDprobe. There are indications the probe against TMC functionaries, including a very senior one, is expected to pick pace and fresh summons will be issued against other accused and suspects very soon.

Sources said searches conducted by ED in this case in Aug 2023 had led to seizure of "crucial evidence", including those allegedly pointing to the involvement of many senior TMC functionaries, including one "particularly close" to CM Mamata Banerjee. The agency had also tracked a company involved in laundering the proceeds of crime in the teachers' recruitment scam, they said

Its investigation had turned up the role of Leaps and Bounds Pvt Ltd and its chief operating officer Sujay Krishna Bhadra - arrested for allegedly handling the proceeds of crime.

In 2022, a money laundering probe was initiated by ED in the West Bengal teachers' recruitment case, which led to the recovery of Rs 50 crore in cash from two flats of a "close female friend" of Mamata's former cabinet minister Partha Chatterjee, who held the education portfolio during the period of the scam.

Both Chatterjee and his female associate, Arpita Mukherjee, were later arrested by the agency, besides half a dozen govt officials and other TMC functionaries. Subsequent investigation revealed that Chatterjee and his associates' made investments in luxury properties and land holding worth more than Rs 126 crore from the alleged proceeds of crime. These assets were attached by the agency.

Several people were arrested in the case, including Partha Chatterjee; Arpita Mukherjee; Manik Bhattacharya, TMC MLA and ex-president of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education; Kuntal Ghosh; Santanu Banerjee; and Ayan Sil. Relatives, personal assistants and OSDs of ministers and TMC functionaries, and officials were found part of the syndicate that "sold" teachers jobs to ineligible candidates.

During a search operation in Kolkata in Aug 2023, ED officials seized various incriminating documents and digital devices that led them to Leaps and Bounds Pvt Ltd, a company used for making dubious transactions running into crores of rupees.