On Tuesday, May 31, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Sujoy Krishna Bhadra, a Kolkata-based businessman and a close aide of Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee (nephew of Mamata Banerjee), following a 12-hour-long questioning in connection with the teachers’ recruitment scam in West Bengal.
According to ED authorities, Bhadra, who is popularly known as ‘Kalighat-er Kaku’ (Kalighat’s uncle) was arrested because he refused to cooperate with investigating officials and dodged their questions.
“He did not cooperate with our officers during today’s questioning. We tried a lot to get answers to some relevant questions connected to the jobs scam,” an ED official said.
ED has claimed to have uncovered his connections to three companies and suspected these organisations were used to launder crores of money. Moreover, during earlier raids on his home, ED authorities recovered documents. His residence in Behala was raided by ED on May 20.
He had testified before the CBI on March 15 regarding his alleged participation in wrongful appointments made in several state-run and state-aided institutions in the state.
According to an Indian Express report, “Abhishek Banerjee’s mother, Lata Banerjee is a director in a firm run in the name of Bhadra, who claims to be an employee in Banerjee’s office.”
Abhishek Banerjee is said to be a partner in the company Leaps & Bounds Private Limited, which manufactures packaged mineral drinking water.
Taking to Twitter BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal state assembly reacted to Sujoy Krishna Bhadra’s arrest saying that “No one will be spared. The high and mighty will go to jail. Time is ticking.”
“The long arm of law is finally reaching towards the masterminds & the biggest beneficiaries. No one will be spared. The high and mighty will go to jail. Time is ticking,” Adhikari tweeted. He also shared images claiming Bhadra’s alleged links with TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee.
Sujay Krishna Bhadra aka "Kalighat-er Kaku" Arrested.
— Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) May 30, 2023
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…
Know the Associates of "Kalighat-er Kaku":- pic.twitter.com/MDUtpKe1CU
The Trinamool Congress did not respond to the arrest but speculated that it was done to shift attention away from the only Congress MLA, Bayron Biswas joining the TMC.
“Only one Congress MLA, Bayron Biswas, joined the TMC yesterday.” The news shocked the opposition coalition of the BJP, CPI(M), and Congress. “Perhaps this arrest was made to divert attention from that narrative,” said TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.
“This is so funny that they are finding a link between Bayron Biswas and the ED probe,” claimed Lok Sabha MP and West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. The TMC is a corrupt party. Biswas is technically still a Congress MLA.”
Sujan Chakraborty, leader of the CPI(M), remarked, “I am surprised that if an employee of (Banerjee) can own three companies and have crores of rupees, I wonder how much property and money his employers have.”
So far, the ED has arrested West Bengal’s former education minister Partha Chatterjee, and several others for their suspected role in the multi-crore scam.
In relation to the investigation, the CBI has also arrested TMC MLAs Jiban Krishna Saha and former West Bengal Board of Primary Education president Manik Bhattacharya.
What is the Bengal Teacher SSC recruitment scam?
The West Bengal Teacher’s recruitment scam, more commonly referred to as the SSC scam, looks into the recruitment process conducted through the State Level Selection Test (SLT) conducted by SSC from 2014 to 2016.
The West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) announced in 2014 that teachers would be hired at state-run schools in West Bengal through the State Level Selection Test (SLST), which is when the alleged scam first surfaced. In 2016, the hiring process got underway. At that time, Partha Chatterjee was the Minister-in-Charge of the West Bengal Department of Higher Education and School Education. Nevertheless, a number of complaints were submitted to the Calcutta High Court citing irregularities in the hiring procedure.
The petitioners alleged that many examinees who got lesser marks ranked high on the merit list. Several claims also surfaced regarding the receipt of appointment letters by some applicants who weren’t even on the merit list.
