ED arrests TMC MLA in West Bengal school jobs 'scam'

Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate arrested ruling Trinamool Congress MLA Jiban Krishna Saha on Monday following raids as part of its probe into alleged irregularities in the hiring of teachers and staffers in schools in West Bengal, official sources said.

He was taken into the central probe agency’s custody following searches conducted at his residence in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.

According to sources, the MLA tried to escape from his house during the raids by jumping from a wall. He also threw his phones into a drain behind his house, and those have been recovered, they said.

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Videos and pictures of the raids showed a drenched MLA being taken away by the ED and accompanying CRPF officials from an area marked by vegetation and trash lying around.

The MLA from the Burwan Assembly segment has been arrested for non-cooperation with the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said, adding the raids also covered some of the MLA’s relatives and associates.

Saha was arrested by the CBI in 2023 for his alleged links to the “scam” and later released.

The ED’s money laundering case stems from an FIR registered by the CBI, which was directed by the Calcutta High Court to carry out investigations into alleged irregularities in the hiring of group ‘C’ and ‘D’ staff, assistant teachers of Classes 9 to 12 and primary teachers.

The ED had earlier arrested former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee, his alleged associate Arpita Mukherjee, TMC MLA and ex-president of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education Manik Bhattacharya, apart from some others in this case.

Chatterjee was suspended by the TMC after his arrest by the ED.

A total of four charge sheets have been filed by the ED in this case till now.

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