Bengal municipalities' recruitment case: ED probes sources of funds in businesses owned by Minister and his son

Kolkata, Oct 11 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has turned its focus to the sources of funds invested in businesses owned by West Bengal Fire Services Minister Sujit Bose and his son, Samudra Bose, as part of its probe into the multi-crore municipalities’ recruitment scam in the state.

According to sources, ED officials suspect irregularities in the flow of funds into several ventures linked to the Minister and his son between 2016 and 2020.

On Friday, the agency carried out extensive raids at Bose’s office and a restaurant owned by his son. The operations, which began early in the morning and continued past midnight, led to the seizure of what officials described as “incriminating documents” suggesting dubious funding sources.

The ED also raided the office of Nitai Dutta, Vice-Chairman of the South Dum Dum Municipality and a close aide of Sujit Bose.

Officials reportedly recovered additional documents there as well. The agency is currently examining nearly 300 recruitments made in the South Dum Dum Municipality, including at least 29 appointments made on a single day -- reportedly without any interviews being conducted.

Reacting to the raids, Sujit Bose dismissed them as “meaningless” and part of a “routine exercise” by central agencies before elections. West Bengal is scheduled to hold assembly polls next year.

This is not the first time the minister has come under scrutiny. In January 2024, the ED had conducted simultaneous searches at his residence and office, seizing documents and his mobile phone.

The latest ED action comes as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is running a parallel probe into the same case, prepares to file a new charge sheet.

According to CBI sources, the son of a politically influential person has already been questioned in connection with the scam, though his name has not been disclosed.

The probe stems from a CBI FIR registered following directions from the Calcutta High Court, which had observed that the recruitment scam extended beyond school appointments to include municipal-level hirings across West Bengal.

--IANS

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