TMC MLA acted as money collecting agent in WB teacher recruitment scam: ED

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Arrested TMC MLA Jiban Krishna Saha, along with his associates, acted as an agent for collecting huge sums of money from "undeserving" candidates in exchange for jobs for the post of assistant teachers in West Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged on Tuesday.

The legislator from the Burwan constituency in Murshidabad district was taken into custody by the federal probe agency on Monday after searches were conducted at his residence. The raids also covered the premises of his associates and an alleged middleman named Prasanna Kumar Roy.

A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court sent him to ED custody for 6 days on Monday.

The probe pertains to alleged illegal appointments of Assistant Teachers (Classes IX-XII) in the schools of the West Bengal government, and this is alleged to have been done in criminal conspiracy with officials of the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (SSC).

The Supreme Court, in April this year, cancelled the appointments of more than 25,000 candidates who were hired as teachers and staff by the SSC, by terming the process as fraud.

Saha, the ED alleged in a statement, along with his associates, acted as an agent for collecting huge sums of money from undeserving candidates in exchange for jobs for the post of Assistant Teachers.

"The proceeds of crime (illicit funds) were collected in his own bank accounts and that of his wife," it said.

The agency said various candidates, in their statements recorded with the ED, have "confirmed" making "direct" cash payments to Saha in lieu of appointments.

The agency also said Saha, during the searches, attempted to flee from the premises and tried to destroy evidence by throwing/hiding his mobile phones in a drain, which were later recovered by the search team.

The agency has said the proceeds of crime in this case run into "hundreds of crores of rupees," and it has attached assets worth Rs 238 crore till now and also filed a chargesheet in April 2024.