West Bengal recruitment scam | ED arrests another Trinamool leader
The Hindu
The Central agency conducted a search at Shantanu Banerjee’s residence, and a list of candidates who had got jobs was found in the search
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 10 arrested Trinamool Congress leader Shantanu Banerjee in the West Bengal recruitment scam.
Mr. Banerjee, a functionary of the Hooghly Zilla Parishad, was summoned for questioning by the Central agencies and arrested after several hours of questioning, later in the evening. He was interrogated more than a dozen times by the investigating agency for his alleged involvement in the scam.
A search at the residence of the Trinamool functionary was also conducted by the Central agency, and a list of candidates who had got jobs were found in the search. The Trinamool leader is likely to be produced before a court tomorrow.
On January 21, the ED had arrested Trinamool Congress youth leader Kuntal Ghosh, a youth leader from the Hooghly district in connection with the recruitment scam. Mr. Ghosh had allegedly collected ₹19 crore from 325 candidates promising them jobs as teachers in State-run schools. The investigating agency is looking whether there is any link between Kunal Ghosh and Santanu Banerjee.
In February, the Central Bureau of Investigation had arrested six middlemen for their alleged involvement in the scam. Former Minister Partha Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya are already behind bars for their alleged involvement in the recruitment scam.
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.