Kolkata, May 11 -- Former Fire and Emergency Services minister Sujit Bose was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday after a marathon interrogation at the CGO Complex in connection with the municipal recruitment corruption case.

Sujit had earlier been summoned multiple times for questioning in the case. However, the former minister skipped the summons and moved the Calcutta High Court seeking additional time, citing his busy schedule during the election campaign.

Following the court's order, he appeared before the ED on May 1 after the polls, accompanied by his lawyer. After several hours of questioning, he was allowed to leave the ED office.

On Monday, the former Bidhannagar MLA was again summoned for interrogation. Accordingly, Sujit, accompanied by his son Samudra Bose and his lawyer, reached the CGO Complex in the morning. He was questioned throughout the day by ED officials.

After more than 10 hours of interrogation, the Central Agency arrested him. ED sources reportedly alleged that Sujit avoided several questions during the interrogation and that multiple ambiguities were detected in his statements, which eventually led to his arrest. The agency is likely to seek his custody for further interrogation after producing him before a court on Tuesday.

On October 10 last year, the ED had conducted searches at the restaurant owned by Sujit's son, the former minister's office, and the residences of South Dum Dum Municipality vice-chairman Netai Dutta, a chartered accountant, a businessman, and several others. The agency had then claimed that several incriminating documents and around Rs 45 lakh in cash were seized during the raids.

Sujit had dismissed the allegations as politically motivated and claimed that central agencies were being used to put pressure on the TMC ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. He also alleged that despite the ED filing a chargesheet in the case earlier without mentioning his name, the agency continued to target him.

The municipal recruitment irregularities first came to light during the CBI probe into the SSC recruitment scam. During raids at the office of businessman Ayan Sil, the CBI allegedly recovered documents related to irregular municipal recruitments.

Subsequently, the CBI registered an FIR and launched an investigation following directions from the Calcutta High Court.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.