ED Raids Residences of 2 Bengal Ministers and Officials in Recruitment Scam Case

ED Raids Residences of 2 Bengal Ministers and Officials in Recruitment Scam Case The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at 14 locations on Friday as part of its investigation into the alleged scam in the recruitment of teachers by the School Service Commission. These locations included the homes of West Bengal ministers Partha Chatterjee and Paresh Adhikary, as well as a Trinamool Congress MLA (SSC). The raids by the ED came a month after the Central Bureau of Investigation registered cases in the alleged recruitment scam on the instruction of the Calcutta High Court. The ED agents arrived at Mr. Chatterjee's south Kolkata home, where he also resides as the secretary-general of the Trinamool Congress, around 8 a.m. on Friday. Up until the end of the day, the hunt was ongoing. When the allegedly irregularities took place, Mr. Chatterjee was the Minister of State for Education. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) members who were on duty at his home provided security for the authorities. Mr. Adhikary's home in the Cooch Behar area was searched by a different ED team. In the midst of search operations across the state, the central agency asserted that it had confiscated Rs 20 crore from the home of Arpita Mukherjee, a close ally of minister Partha Chatterjee. The raid was performed at Chatterjee's Naktala mansion in south Kolkata, where he is the state minister for parliamentary affairs, commerce, and industry. Previously, he was in charge of education. The suspected recruitment scam is being investigated by the ED from a money laundering viewpoint. The agency has also asked the CBI for information on the matter. For the past few months, the State's politics have been dominated by the question of anomalies in the hiring of teaching and non-teaching employees in State-run institutions. According to reports, Mr. Chatterjee felt sick as the ED was recording his statement. A medical staff examined the Minister. A bunch of attorneys also stopped by his home. The leadership of the Trinamool Congress referred to the ED raids as a political vendetta.