ED arrests former Bengal minister Sujit Bose in municipal recruitment scam case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested former West Bengal minister and TMC leader Sujit Bose in a municipal recruitment scam.Days after TMC’s rout in West Bengal, ED questioned senior party leader Sujit Bose over the party’s probe into the municipal recruitment “scam” case.Bose was accused of illegally recommending 150 candidates for various positions in South Dumdum Municipality in lieu of monetary benefits. Prior to his arrest, the Department of Education traced the direct proceeds of crime to his purchase of apartments in lieu of offering municipal jobs to various people. In addition, anti-money laundering agencies traced huge cash deposits in bank accounts he controlled. The former TMC minister will be produced before a special court on Tuesday morning.Former fire minister Bose, who was defeated in the stronghold of Bidhan Nagar, was directed by the court to join the investigation.While Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s tenure has been marked by a series of alleged scams, scams related to recruitment in municipalities stand out, ED sources told TOI The relationship with her nephew, Diamond Harbor MP Abhishek Banerjee, is on the rocks, ED sources told TOI. Abhishek Banerjee, seen as Mamata’s presumptive successor, was widely said to be waiting for the chief minister until a landslide victory by the BJP, burying the Trinamool Congress party’s ambitions to extend his tenure. Several money laundering cases being investigated by the ED, including the coal smuggling ‘scam’ involving political consultancy firm I-PAC, will be returned to Kolkata from Delhi.The investigation stalled as ED officials were allegedly “intimidated” in Kolkata and many of the accused refused to cooperate despite repeated summons. Sources said the ED may also resume interrogation of the accused, including Abhishek, his wife Rujila, former Attorney General Rajiv Kumar, former Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma, then Commissioner of Police Priyabrata Roy, and I-PAC chief Pratik Jain. During the raid on January 8, Mamata took away documents seized by the agency from her residence in the presence of police officials.