Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) made its first arrests Wednesday in the alleged School Service Commission scam in West Bengal, which has already scalped the senior-most minister in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet.
The probe agency took into custody Shanti Prasad Sinha, the convener of a powerful committee constituted by the Education Department in 2019 to oversee the recruitment of teachers.
Also arrested was former secretary of the School Service Commission Ashok Kumar Saha. Both were grilled at their homes before being formally held.
It is alleged that money passed hands in the hiring of teachers and staff in government-run schools when minister Partha Chatterjee helmed the Education portfolio.
Chatterjee and his close associate Arpita Mukherjee were arrested on 23 July after mounds of cash and jewellery were found from Mukherjee’s flats. Both are currently in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate which is monitoring the money trail in the alleged scam.
The CBI filed an FIR against Sinha and Saha on 20 May, and raided their homes in June.
The investigation agency, which got the mandate to probe the irregularities from the Calcutta High Court on 31 March, has filed five FIRs in the case.
Other than Sinha and Saha, several others have also been quizzed by the CBI. Partha Chatterjee, who has been relieved of all portfolios after his arrest, was interrogated twice.
The Justice (retd) Bag Committee report, first reported by ThePrint, named Shanti Prasad Sinha as well as Ashok Kumar Saha for their alleged involvement in the School Service recruitment scam.
The report said the duo purportedly gave fake appointments to teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-run schools.
The CBI found reasonable grounds to arrest Sinha after it went through his bank transactions.
“The two should have been arrested earlier,” said Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya – representing petitioners who did not get jobs despite a rank.
He told ThePrint: “Their arrest was due as they conspired and conducted this scam. There are more members of the committee who are involved, and the CBI must arrest them too.”
Leader of the Opposition and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari welcomed the arrests. Speaking to the media, Adhikari said: “Everyone in the committee is involved. I don’t know what the CBI will do next, but the Justice Bag committee report has named the accused. Deserving youth of the state were denied jobs. Partha Chatterjee has played a key role in this Rs 3,000-crore scam.”
Also read: Partha Chatterjee, close aide Arpita sent to jail till 18 August in Bengal School Service scam