Trinamool Congress MLA and former chairperson of West Bengal Board of Primary Education Manik Bhattacharya was on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with School Service Commission recruitment scam.
Mr. Bhattacharya, MLA from Palashipara in Nadia district, was arrested after overnight questioning in the recruitment scam. He was earlier questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) in the recruitment scam. He had approached the Supreme Court seeking protection from arrest.
With the arrest of Mr. Bhattacharya, the number of those arrested by the ED and the CBI in the recruitment scam have increased to six, including former Minister Partha Chatterjee.
The other officials arrested by the agencies are former chairperson of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) Kalyanmoy Ganguly and former chairperson of West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) Subires Bhattacharya. Santi Prasad Sinha, former advisor of WBSSC and Ashok Kumar Saha former secretary of WBSSC have also been arrested in the scam. During the day, Manik Bhattacharya was produced before a city court which remanded him to 14 days of ED custody . There were dramatic scenes outside the Court when a few of those gathered, including women, raised their shoes shouted slogans calling the MLA as a ‘thief’.
Mr. Bhattacharya name had figured in the charge sheet filed by the ED against Mr. Chatterjee, who was arrested along with his aide Arpita Mukherjee on July 23 by the ED. He is the second politician after Partha Chatterjee to be arrested in the recruitment scam.
The scam involves giving jobs to candidates in state run schools for monetary gains. Calcutta High Court had directed probe by central agencies in the recruitment scam. The scam has emerged as a major embarrassment for West Bengal government.
Earlier, the Supreme Court granted Bhattacharya “protection” from being arrested by the CBI, which is also investigating the case. The ED is tracking the money trail in the scam, while the CBI is looking into the alleged irregularities committed in the recruitment.
Hours after the arrest, the State government announced that it has started the process of recruitment for primary teachers in which all the candidates who had qualified in the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014 and 2017 can apply. Gautam Pal, the president of WBPPE, said that recruitment process for 11,000 posts has started and all the protesting job seekers should apply. Mr Pal expressed hope that all deserving candidates will get jobs.
The arrest of Mr. Bhattacharya triggered strong political reactions with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership saying that he cannot be the king-pin of the scam. The Trinamool Congress on the other hand sought time bound investigations and alleged that central agencies are targeting leaders from Opposition parties.
Manik Bhattacharya arrest photos in DCX
EOM
