On Friday, 12th January, the Enforcement Directorate is conducting raids on the premises of West Bengal Fire Services Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Sujit Bose in Kolkata in connection with the Municipal recruitment scam or the Civic recruitment scam.
#WATCH | ED raid underway at the premises of West Bengal minister and TMC leader Sujit Bose in Kolkata. Details awaited. pic.twitter.com/qQNCYuSIV5
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2024
A team of the federal probe agency is also raiding the Ganguly Street residence of TMC leader and Minister for Planning and Statistics in West Bengal, Tapas Roy. Reports say that former North Dum Dum Municipality chairman Subodh Chakraborty’s residence is also being searched.
#WATCH | ED raid underway at the premises of TMC leader Tapas Roy in Kolkata. Details awaited. pic.twitter.com/6krSETUXxF
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2024
Enforcement Directorate officers, accompanied by central forces, raided Bose’s two residences in the Lake Town area of the North 24 Parganas district today.
“We are conducting search operations at the residences of three TMC leaders in connection with the recruitments in civic bodies. We are also engaging in discussions with the leaders regarding the ongoing investigation,” an Enforcement Directorate spokesperson said.
How was the civic recruitment scam unearthed?
The arrest of builder Ayan Sheel, who is based in Kolkata, by the ED on March 19 concerning the SSC recruitment scam exposed the purported anomalies in municipality recruitments in West Bengal. The ED claimed that during a search at Ayan’s Salt Lake office, OMR answer sheets of candidates for various posts in many municipalities were found.
Sujit Bose was called by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in August of last year to be questioned as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged irregularities in municipal appointments from 2014 to 2016.
Sujit Bose, who served as the vice-chairman of South Dum Dum Municipality from 2010 to 2021, during which nearly 250 people were recruited, is the first cabinet minister to be summoned in this case.
The request from the Mamata Government to halt the CBI’s investigation into the purported municipal recruitment scam was turned down by the Calcutta High Court after both the CBI and ED informed the court of links between the civic body recruitment scam and the bribe-for-job or the SSC recruitment scam in the West Bengal school education department, resulting in the arrest of former education minister and Mamata Banerjee’s close confidante Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee.
Meanwhile, Bhartiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari took a dig at TMC leaders and called them “thieves”.
“There will be ED raids in a thief’s home. Sujit Bose is involved in the South Dumdum Municipality recruitment scam… Tapas Roy is also involved in the Baranagar Municipality recruitment scam. The youth and the people of Bengal want them to go behind the bars,” Adhikari told ANI.
#WATCH | Kolkata: On ED raids underway at the premises of TMC leaders Tapas Roy and Sujit Bose, West Bengal Legislative Assembly LoP and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari says, "There will be raids in a thief's home… The youth and the people of Bengal want them to go behind the… pic.twitter.com/ecCnVsblUW
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2024
Mob of 800-1000 attacked with intention to kill, said ED
Only last week, a mob of 800-1000 TMC supporters led by TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh assaulted a team of ED officials who went to raid his premises in North 24 Parganas in connection with a ration distribution scam.
In a statement, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that its team, along with CRPF, and journalists was attacked and their vehicles were targeted in Sandeshkhali of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal. In its statement, the probe agency said that a violent mob comprising 800-1000 people attacked the ED team with CRPF, to cause death. It added that the attackers were carrying sticks and stones. The probe agency added that the mob is suspected to be instigated by TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh and his associates. It further informed that three of its officials had been injured in the mob attack and admitted to hospital for treatment. In addition to injuring the on-duty ED officials, the violent mob also stole their laptops, mobile phones, wallets, cash and other belongings.
Public Distribution System Scam
Scams, arrests and protests have dominated the politics of West Bengal. On 26th October, ED raided the residence of West Bengal Minister Jyoti Priya Mallick in Kolkata in connection to a corruption case related to ration distribution. Mallick is a senior TMC leader serving as the forest minister of Bengal. Previously, he held the food minister portfolio. In response to the raid, CM Mamata Banerjee strongly criticised the central agency and accused the BJP-led government at the centre of using such actions as part of a “broader strategy” ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
