ED searches TMC's Santanu Banerjee, Kuntal Ghosh residence in teachers recruitment scam case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday searched the residence of TMC youth leader Santanu Banerjee and Kuntal Ghosh's residence in teachers recruitment scam case.

New Delhi:The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday searched the residence of Hooghly TMC youth leader Santanu Banerjee, in connection with the 'teachers recruitment scam' case. According to sources, raids are also underway at TMC's Kuntal Ghosh's Newtown residence. Earlier last week the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea by the West Bengal government challenging the Calcutta High Court order rejecting the state's preliminary objection questioning the maintainability of a petition alleging irregularities in the recruitment of assistant teachers in primary schools on the basis of the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), 2014.

The petition in the high court alleged that in TET 2014 stated that 42,897 candidates should have been selected by the teacher's recruitment body but no merit list was ever published disclosing the marks obtained either in the written test or interview and no reserved category-wise list was published. On July 23 the enforcement directorate arrested Partha Chatterjee in connection with its probe into alleged money laundering in the recruitment scam. The CBI later took him in its remand, on a court order, for questioning.

The former minister was subsequently relieved of his duties as State Minister and removed from all cabinet ministries by the Trinamool Congres though he maintains that he is still in the TMC. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also distanced herself and her party from the ongoing SSC recruitment scam controversy.

The ED had found Rs 21 crore in cash and jewelry worth lakhs of rupees from the house of Arpita Mukherjee, the ex-Minister's close aide. Names of another 'close' associate Monalisa Das also came to light in the incident.