Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Monday registered an FIR in connection with allegations of widespread irregularities in municipal recruitments in West Bengal, two days after the Calcutta High Court ordered the agency to probe the alleged Rs 200 crore racket.
In its FIR, the CBI has named Ayan Sil, considered a close aide of expelled Trinamool Congress (TMC) youth leader Shantanu Banerjee, along with other unnamed accused. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Sil on 20 March in connection with its investigation into the alleged teachers’ recruitment scam.
The Calcutta HC’s order came after the ED told a single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay last week that while investigating the teachers’ recruitment ‘scam’, it had stumbled upon a parallel employment racket — for recruiting municipal workers like clerks, sweepers, peons, and drivers.
The latest ‘racket’, which ED calls the ‘Municipality Recruitment Scam’, pertains to alleged irregularities in recruitments in several civic bodies in Bengal’s North 24 Parganas. In its status report before the high court, the ED claimed that suspects manipulated answer sheets in municipal recruitment exams to give “illegal appointments to unmeritorious candidates”. ThePrint has seen the status report.
The development comes as a major blow for the ruling TMC, which swept to power for a third term in 2021. Not only are several of its leaders — prominent among them former minister Partha Chatterjee — being investigated for the School Service Commission scam case and cattle smuggling scam case, the Mamata Banerjee-led party also suffered a setback earlier this month when it lost its national party status.
In March, the party expelled two leaders — Shantanu Banerjee and another youth leader, Kuntal Ghosh — over their alleged involvement in the teacher recruitment ‘scam’, citing “zero-tolerance to corruption”. The development came after the leaders were arrested in connection with the case.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded a thorough investigation.
“I will write to the Union urban development minister to send a central team to West Bengal to enquire on the municipality scam,” West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar told ThePrint. “None in Bengal can get a job without bribing TMC leaders, such is the state of affairs.”
On its part, the TMC said it was willing to face any investigation. “We will welcome any team that comes. We have worked honestly and have nothing to hide,” West Bengal Urban Development Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim had told mediapersons on 21 April, soon after the ED submitted its status report before the HC.
ThePrint reached TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh via calls and text messages seeking comment on the CBI’s FIR. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
‘Proceeds of scams have got intermingled’
The FIR comes on the back of ED’s status report in connection with the alleged teachers’ recruitment scam. According to ED’s status report, submitted before the HC on 21 April, documents seized during its investigation allegedly revealed a similar racket. According to the report, Sil allegedly “collected” over Rs 200 crore in the process.
“During investigation in respect of the Primary Teachers Recruitment Scam under PMLA, 2002, searches were carried out at various premises linked to one Ayan Sil and others on 19/20.03.2023. During the searches, several incriminating documents along with digital evidence were recovered and seized,” the status report states.
It further stated: “The scrutiny of the incriminating documents has revealed that the scam is not only limited to recruitment of the teachers but also covers several other appointments by the various municipalities (including Kanchrapara, New Barrackpur, Kamarhati, Titagarh, Baranagar, Halisahar, South Dum Dum (N), Dum Dum, Taki etc.) which ranges from recruitments of mazdoors, sweepers, clerks, peon, ambulance attendants, assistant mistries, pump operators, helpers, sanitary assistants, drivers, etc.”
Sil, who is currently in ED’s custody, and his accomplices would allegedly manipulate recruitment exams in return for a consideration.
“It has been noticed that several persons including Ayan Sil, other agents, intermediaries and political persons have obtained the bribe money/illegal money/illegal considerations both in respect of illegal recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in the education sector as well as for securing various employments in various municipalities,” the status report further said, adding that “even the proceeds of crime of Teachers Recruitment Scam and the Municipality Recruitment Scam have got intermingled”.
ED sources told ThePrint that the agency is likely to investigate financial links in the case based on CBI’s FIR.
Who is Ayan Sil?
Sil, a real estate developer and a film producer, was arrested on 20 March after the ED conducted raids in his house in Kolkata’s Salt Lake neighbourhood.
Coming from a humble family in Hooghly, Sil, the ED claims, is the director of a firm called ABS Infozone Pvt Ltd, which facilitated recruitments in municipalities across West Bengal.
The ED further claims that during the raid, it found “incriminating evidence”, including the original OMR sheets on which recruitment exams were conducted and were thereafter manipulated.
OMR, or Optical Mark Recognition, sheets are usually used in competitive exams that have multiple choice questions. Candidates fill in bubbles marked beside the choices, that are eventually read using an OMR reader.
Sil, according to the ED, would manipulate the OMR sheets for a bribe. According to the ED, 23 of his bank accounts and at least eight properties are under investigation.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)