ED raids six places linked to ‘middlemen’ in West Bengal teacher recruitment scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at six locations in West Bengal connected to alleged “middlemen” involved in the State teacher recruitment scam. The raids began on Friday morning following the arrest of main middleman Prassana Kumar Roy, a close associate of former education minister Partha Chatterjee, who is currently in judicial custody, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The areas targeted by the ED included Patharghata, where one of the places searched was the residence of para teacher Abdul Amin at the Mazar Sharif intersection in Patharghata Newtown. Abdul Amin is reportedly associated with Partha Chatterjee and works as a para teacher at Patharghata High School.

The ED’s latest raids were based on information provided by individuals previously arrested in connection with the case. In January, the agency conducted searches at seven locations in West Bengal as part of its efforts to trace the money trail in the teacher recruitment scam.

Earlier, the ED had raided two luxurious bungalows belonging to Prasanna Roy at New Town’s Ideal Villas in West Bengal. Roy, a relative of Partha Chatterjee, had been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and later granted bail by the Supreme Court.

Partha Chatterjee, a former minister of the Trinamool Congress, was arrested on July 23, 2022, after cash amounting to Rs 21 crore and jewelry worth over Rs 1 crore were allegedly found at the Kolkata residence of his close aide, Arpita Mukherjee.

According to the ED, various documents and bank records seized from different suspects indicate that Partha Chatterjee sought assistance to invest money obtained from the teacher recruitment scam in the state.