West Bengal teachers' recruitment scam: TMC's Santanu Banerjee sent to ED custody for 11 days

TMC Youth leader Santanu Banerjee was sent to ED (Enforcement Directorate) custody for 11 days on Monday. He will be produced before the court on March 24. The TMC leader was arrested in connection with the teachers' recruitment scam case.

Law Enforcement agencies have so far arrested several persons connected to ruling TMC for allegedly involving in the scam.

Earlier in January, ED arrested another Trinamool Congress youth leader Kuntal Ghosh in connection with the scam. ED conducted searches at the residence of Hooghly TMC youth leader Santanu Banerjee and Kuntal Ghosh's Newtown residence in Janurary. Ghosh, was first detained by ED sleuths following overnight search operations at his Chinar Park apartment and then arrested. Several documents and a diary were also seized from Ghosh's twin flats during the search operations by the ED which started on Friday morning, he added.

CBI should also bring BJP leaders under probe scanner: TMC

TMC on Sunday demanded Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari and BJP National Vice President Dilip Ghosh be brought under the scanner of central agencies in the investigations of SSC job scam for the sake of fair and impartial investigation.

BJP countered it saying TMC is getting scared as the complicity of more of its leaders in the recruitment scam is coming up every day.

Trinamool Congress state general secretary and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told reporters Adhikari, when he was with TMC, had been instrumental in giving jobs to more than 100 persons as Group D staff in state-run and state-aided schools and of them several have been retrenched as ordered by the high court.

The TMC spokesperson further claimed the land deed of Dilip Ghosh had been found from the residence of an SSC scam accused Prasanna Roy, who is currently in CBI custody, and hence the former BJP state chief should also be interrogated.

"Before pointing fingers at TMC, before maligning our party, let Suvendu and Dilip-da be interrogated by central agencies at the earliest. Why is Suvendu not being brought under scanner though he was instrumental in giving jobs to 150 Group D employees of whom 55 have been sacked as directed by the hon'ble high court. He was with TMC then. Is he not being touched because of his association with BJP now. 

"We want the whole truth to come out, we will cooperate with investigating agencies and if anyone associated with TMC is found to be involved let the law take its course," the TMC state general secretary added.

He accused central agencies of adopting "preferential treatment" towards BJP leaders and said "if the probe covers wider ambit that would help in the investigations."

Responding to TMC's charges, BJP Midnapore MP Dilip Ghosh told PTI "BJP does not believe in the culture of plundering public money for the gratification of some individuals which is the culture of a corrupt party like TMC.

"Why is Kunal Ghosh so scared with the arrests of several party functionaries one after another on the charge of taking lakhs of rupees from job aspirants and selling jobs depriving the eligible candidates. Is he afraid the agencies will reach out to the big names gradually? Dilip Ghosh had never amassed anyone's money, none can point a finger at leaders like us. If TMC has any proof against any of us, they should communicate with the investigating agencies, we are not scared to face the truth as our hands were not tainted by the graft money of SSC and TET scam. TMC has no shame," he added.

The BJP vice president said he had handed over the land deed to the arrested SSC accused Prasanna Roy earlier last year for some maintenance work at his flat owned by him earlier.

"I did not have any idea about his involvement with any financial wrongdoing at that time. Let the investigating agencies, who act independently, decide their course of action. People like Kunal Ghosh need not dictate and instead set their own house in order," the BJP leader said.

(With Agency input)