Kolkata: The CBI on Wednesday questioned Hooghly Yuva Trinamool leader Kuntal Ghosh in the West Bengal SSC scam case, sources said. Ghosh, who is said to be close to the already arrested TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya, was questioned by the CBI sleuths at Nizam Palace here.
Ghosh is the owner of a private college in Balagarh, Hooghly. A CBI source said that Ghosh was called for questioning over allegations that he collected Rs 19 crore from job seekers in the SSC scam case. Sources said that the CBI is probing whether Ghosh used his influence in the education sector to collect the said alleged money from the uneducated youth on the pretext of jobs.
Also read: Bengal scam: Partha Chatterjee sacked from cabinet, suspended from TMC
The SSC recruitment scam case which surfaced in mid 2022 rocked West Bengal after minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested on July 23. Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) following the recovery of huge amount of cash and jewelry from the premises of his close aide Arpita Mukherjee.
He was taken into custody by the CBI on September 16. Besides, the officials in-charge of various recruitment boards and the vice-chancellor of a university have also been arrested. A CBI court on January 5 rejected Chatterjee's bail plea in the case. The court asked the investigators to speed up the probe.
Chatterjee, who held several portfolios at the time when the scam surfaced, was relieved from the cabinet. He was also sacked by the TMC from the party posts. The scam is said to have taken place in the 2016 recruitment of teachers in West Bengal schools.
