ED raids properties linked to TMC MLA Madan Mitra in recruitment scam probe

The Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at seven properties linked to TMC MLA Madan Mitra in connection with a money laundering probe into alleged municipality recruitment irregularities. Investigators suspect bribery, illegal appointments, and financial transactions linked to jobs secured through middlemen

Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate has been carrying out raids since early Saturday at multiple properties, allegedly linked to TMC MLA Madan Mitra, in West Bengal as part of its money laundering investigation into municipality recruitment “irregularities”, officials said.

A total of seven premises allegedly linked to Mitra, a former minister in the previous TMC regime, are being searched, they said. Search operations were launched at Mitra’s Bhabanipur residence in south Kolkata, alongside a five-floor apartment in Dakshineswar on the northern fringes of the city and a flat in Joka on Kolkata’s southern outskirts, they said.

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Raids are also taking place at a property in Beleghata in north Kolkata and the premises of two local clubs in Bhabanipur and Santoshpur, the officials added.

The leader was also being questioned by the investigators at his Dhirendranath Gupta Road residence in Bhabanipur, where he was reportedly staying with his family. Mitra represents the Kamarhati assembly seat in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district.

It is alleged that Mitra received bribes in the form of cash and gold through middlemen in relation to the appointment of undeserving candidates for various posts to different municipalities, including civic bodies of Kamarhati and adjacent Titagarh, ED officials said.

They claimed Mitra is “linked” to 125 such illegal appointments. The ED officers are looking to trace paper documents involving financial transactions in connection with the case, they said.

The central agency stated that the current search operations are based on leads obtained from businessman Ayan Sil, who was arrested on March 20, 2023, in connection with the same case.

Sil is alleged to have been involved in conducting recruitment processes for multiple municipalities through his company, ABS Infozone Private Limited. The ED accused the firm of irregularities in preparing OMR sheets, organising examinations, and managing interview procedures for recruitments in state-run schools.

While probing the school job recruitment scam at properties linked to Sil, investigators stumbled upon alleged evidence which suggested widespread corruption in the recruitment of Group-D staff, typists, and other lower-level employees across at least seven municipalities in West Bengal.

Officials believe that large sums of money were exchanged in return for securing jobs, with Kamarhati Municipality among the affected civic bodies.

In a report submitted to the Calcutta High Court in April 2023, the ED had stated that Sil collected over Rs 200 crore from job aspirants by promising them appointments in municipalities across Bengal, of which the agency had seized Rs 111 crore.

The agency had named Kamarhati, Titagarh, Kanchrapara, New Barrackpore, Taki, Halisahar, Baranagar, South and North Dum Dum municipalities, where such irregular appointments allegedly took place.

The agency also filed a charge sheet in connection with the case in 2024. On May 11, the ED arrested TMC leader and former minister in Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet, Sujit Bose, on charges of around 150 illegal recruitments at the South Dum Dum municipality, where he served as vice-chairman.