ED raids seven Madan Mitra-linked premises in Bengal jobs irregularities case

THe Enforcement board of directors (ED) on sabbatum conducted raids in at to the lowest degree 7 properties in and around calcutta allegedly linked to Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA and former minister Madan Mitra, in connection with irregularities in municipal recruitments in West Bengal, an ED official said.“ED teams searched seven premises related to Mitra in the municipality recruitment scam. Investigation is ongoing,” said an ED official.The search operations started around 6am and were carried out almost simultaneously at all seven locations, including the former minister’s residence in Bhabanipur in south Kolkata.The other places where the raids were conducted include Beleghata, Dakshineshwar and Santoshpur, among others.The ED, which was probing to unearth the money laundering trail in the school recruitment case in the state, got a whiff of the irregularities in municipal recruitments in March 2023.Also Read:Police raid Abhishek Banerjee’s house at 2am to trace aide in land fraud caseThe Calcutta high court, which had earlier ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the alleged irregularities in government schools, was informed by the federal agency about the irregularities in municipal recruitments.In April 2023, the Calcutta high court ordered the CBI to probe the alleged irregularities in municipal recruitments. The ED launched a parallel probe based on the FIR registered by the CBI.In July 2024, the CBI told the Calcutta high court that it had found irregularities in more than 1,800 appointments made since 2014 in 17 civic bodies in the state.The federal agency said that at least 3,650 recruitments were made to various posts such as labourer, sweeper, clerk, peon, ambulance attendant, pump operator and driver, among others. There are 121 civic bodies in West Bengal.The CBI also told the court that the maximum number of the alleged irregularities took place in South Dum Dum (329), Kamarhati (303), Baranagar (276), Titagarh (221), Krishnanagar (200) and Ranaghat (101) municipalities, among others. Mitra is the two-time MLA from Kamarhati.“Investigation conducted so far has revealed that Mitra received bribes in the form of cash and gold through middlemen in relation to the appointment of undeserving candidates to various posts in different municipalities, including Kamarhati municipality. Madan Mitra is linked to more than 125 such illegal appointments. Further investigation is underway,” said an ED official.This piece will be updated as and when Mitra responds to HT’s request for comment.