CBI arrests two more in Bengal school jobs scam

India

oi-PTI

Kolkata, Aug 10:
The
CBI
on
Wednesday
arrested
two
former
officials
of
the
West
Bengal
School
Service
Commission
(SSC)
for
their
alleged
involvement
in
the
“irregularities”
in
the
recruitment
of
teaching
and
non-teaching
staff
in
government-sponsored
and
-aided
schools,
an
official
said.

These
are
the
first
arrests
made
by
the
Central
Bureau
of
Investigation
(CBI)
in
the
school
jobs
scam,
he
added.

Former
advisor
of
the
SSC,
Dr
Shanti
Prasad
Sinha,
and
its
ex-secretary
Ashok
Kumar
Saha
were
arrested
by
the
agency
on
Wednesday
evening
after
a
day-long
grilling.

“Both
were
non-cooperative
and
tried
to
mislead
our
detectives
during
the
questioning.
As
they
were
hiding
information,
we
decided
to
arrest
them
and
interrogate
them
in
our
custody,”
the
officer
told
PTI.

After
their
arrests,
they
were
taken
to
the
SSKM
Hospital
for
medical
check-ups,
and
then
to
the
agency’s
office.

The
duo
will
be
produced
before
a
court
on
Thursday.

The
CBI
has
registered
FIRs
under
non-bailable
sections
of
the
IPC
against
Sinha,
Saha
and
three
other
officers
–
Kalyanmoy
Ganguly,
Soumitra
Sarkar
and
Samarjit
Acharya
in
the
alleged
scam.

In
the
FIR,
the
central
probe
agency
alleged
that
the
SSC
advisory
panel
was
formed
on
the
insistence
of
the
then
education
minister
Partha
Chatterjee
who
was
earlier
arrested
by
the
Enforcement
Department
(ED)
which
is
tracking
the
money
trail
in
the
scam.

Partha
Chatterjee’s
close
associate
Arpita
Mukherjee
was
also
arrested
by
the
ED
in
this
connection.