New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has attached assets worth more than Rs 365 crore till now as part of its two separate money laundering investigations linked to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers for government schools in West Bengal.
The federal agency said it has issued a latest order under the anti-money laundering law to attach over Rs 230 crore of a former adviser of the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) and an alleged middleman in connection with the assistant teachers recruitment 'scam' in the state.
A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach land parcels and a flat held in the name of former adviser Santi Prasad Sinha and Prasanna Kumar Roy, the "main middleman", who was allegedly involved in the collection of money and details from the candidates.
These assets are also in the name of some companies and LLPs (limited liability partnerships) controlled by the two, it said in a statement. The two were arrested by the ED in this (assistant teachers recruitment) case and they are currently lodged in jail under judicial custody.
The ED is also probing another such case of alleged irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers in West Bengal where it has similarly attached properties worth Rs 135 crore till now.
The total attachment and seizure in the two teacher recruitment "scams" in West Bengal, so far, stands at Rs 365.60 crore, the agency said. In the instant case, the attached land parcels in the name of Prasanna Kumar Roy include about 96 Cottah in Patharghata, 117 Cottah in Sultanpur, 282 Cottah in Maheshtala and 136 Cottah in New Town.
The attached properties held in the name of Santi Prasad Sinha include a "benami" flat in Bengal Ambuja Housing, Purba Jadavpur, Kolkata and two land parcels in Kapashati (North 24 Parganas district), the agency said.
The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the CBI that was filed to probe alleged illegal appointment of assistant teachers in Class IX to XII by offering jobs to un-deserving, non-listed and low-ranked candidates thereby depriving the deserving and genuine candidates.
The appointments, according to the CBI complaint, said these recruitment were made without maintaining fairness, in criminal conspiracy by various persons and by flouting the relevant rules.
The ED said the CBI chargesheets filed in the case show that a total 2,081 (1,135 for classes IX-X and 946 for classes XI-XII) candidates were appointed or recommended illegally for the post of assistant teachers by the officials of WBSSC in criminal conspiracy with others.
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