On May 30, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Sujay Krishna Bhadra, also known as ‘Kalighater Kaku’, in relation to West Bengal’s teacher recruitment scam. He was arrested after being interrogated for around 11 hours in Kolkata.
The official involved in this case said that Bhadra was arrested for his participation in the illegal hirings that occurred in various state-funded and -operated schools in West Bengal. Another official said, “He did not cooperate with our officers during the questioning. We tried a lot to get answers to some relevant questions connected to the jobs scam”.
According to an ED official, Bhadra, who in March claimed to be working for Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee, is suspected of being connected to the dealings of three businesses that are reportedly involved in the laundering of funds from the alleged recruitment scam. He allegedly holds the position of the chief operational officer at a private limited firm whose directors include TMC’s, Abhishek Banerjee.
On May 31, Bhadra is scheduled to appear before a court. Another ED official said, “He was arrested after he made conflicting statements in an apparent attempt to mislead the interrogators”.
The opposition leader in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), went on Twitter about Bhadra’s arrest in the recruitment scam case. He tweeted, “Sujay Krishna Bhadra aka “Kalighat-er Kaku” Arrested. The long arm of the Law is finally reaching towards the masterminds & the biggest beneficiaries. NO ONE WILL BE SPARED. THE HIGH & MIGHTY WILL GO TO JAIL. TIME IS TICKING…”.
He even posted images of other co-accused in the scam and the name of the company through which the alleged culprits launder money earned through the recruitment scam. Apart from Bhadra, the other accused are Amit Banerjee, Biswanath Bhattacharyya, Lata Banerjee, and Rujira Banerjee. They all are appointed as directors of Leaps & Bounds Pvt Ltd. Rujira Banerjee is the wife, and Lata Banerjee is the mother of TMC National General Secretary secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who is also the nephew of Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
Recently on May 20, ED raided the properties of Sujay Krishna Bhadra and questioned him about his involvement in the scam. The agency raided his house ‘Radharani’ in Behala, a flat and two offices located in the neighbourhood. Documents purportedly demonstrating financial transactions with the three companies in question were confiscated by ED officials during the raids.
Bhadra was earlier summoned in the case after Tapas Mondal, another accused, previously mentioned his name. Even though Bhadra insisted he had nothing to do with teachers’ recruitment.
The ED is looking into the money trail associated with the alleged irregularities in school recruitment, while the Central Bureau of Investigation is looking into the criminal aspect of the scam.
Last month on April 17, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested TMC MLA Jiban Krishna Saha in regard if his recruitment scam. He is an MLA from the Burwan Constituency of West Bengal. The case was registered on the orders of the High Court of Calcutta, and the concerned authorities conducted raids at six locations.
During searches, several incriminating materials were recovered, including primary and upper teachers’ recruitment and documents containing the list of the candidates and amounts mentioned against them. He was arrested after detailed questioning by officials. CBI have also previously arrested TMC MLA Partha Chatterjee and Manik Bhattacharya during their investigation into the scam.
On May 12, the Calcutta High Court cancelled the appointment of about 36,000 ‘untrained’ primary school teachers who were recruited by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education in 2016. The court held, “The appointment of all 36,000 (thirty six thousand) (more or less) candidates who were untrained at the time of recruitment in 2016 recruitment process conducted by the Board in the post of primary teachers are cancelled for various reasons as have been elaborated above”.
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