Kolkata, July 9 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday filed a chargesheet in the multi-crore municipal recruitment scam case, naming the former Bengal Fire and Emergency Services minister Sujit Bose and his son Samudra Bose.

The 186-page chargesheet, submitted before a special court in Kolkata, comes nearly two months after Sujit's arrest on May 11 in connection with the civic body recruitment scam to the tune of about Rs 250 crore. It has been alleged that out of the total amount found to be involved so far, Sujit has personally received ill-gotten funds worth Rs 20 crore.

According to sources, the chargesheet details how Sujit illegally recommended the names of 340 job seekers for various municipal posts. Out of these, 284 candidates successfully received appointment letters. Investigators further alleged that the candidates were forced to pay an average bribe of Rs six lakh each to secure jobs across multiple civic bodies. Apart from Sujit, ED has also widened its net by naming his son Samudra and two corporate entities operating under his name, accusing them of laundering the bribe money. Furthermore, Jyotishman Chattopadhyay, the former Director of the Directorate of Local Bodies (DLB), has been chargesheeted for allegedly misusing his official position to facilitate the fraudulent appointments.

The cash-for-jobs scam in Bengal's municipalities came to light during a parallel probe into the primary school teacher recruitment scam. While Sujit's legal counsel had previously argued in the Calcutta High Court that his name was absent from the initial CBI probe, the ED's independent money-laundering investigation concluded that Sujit was a key figure

in the racket.

It may be mentioned that the municipal recruitment irregularities first spotted during the investigation of the SSC recruitment scam by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

While conducting a raid at the office of Ayan Sil, the CBI found several documents related to the municipal recruitment irregularities. Later, CBI lodged an FIR and started a probe on the orders of the Calcutta High Court. Followed by the CBI, ED also initiated a probe into the same.

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