Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday launched raids at several places in West Bengal capital Kolkata in connection with its probe in the alleged irregularities in recruitment at West Bengal schools, sources said. The Central Investigation Agency started a search operation at Prasanna Roy's house and office in New Town at seven in the morning on Thursday.
Prasanna Roy, who is an accused in teacher recruitment scam case was arrested by CBI, but later he got bail from the Supreme Court. Roy, a suspected middleman in the scam case, was arrested by the CBI from his office at a five-star hotel building in New Town on 26 August 2022. The same year, Shantiprasad Sinha, the then advisor of SSC, was also arrested by the ED in the recruitment scam case.
CBI traced the numbers of the two middlemen Pradeep Singh and Prasanna Roy from his phone. Prasanna Roy is said to be close to the then Education Minister Partha Chatterjee. Chatterjee is still in jail in the case. Besides New Town, the ED also raided locations at Nayabad on the outskirts of Kolkata. The ED sleuths were accompanied by contingents of the central paramilitary force to assist them in the raids.
Pradeep Singh, one of the middlemen in the teacher recruitment scam, was interrogated by the CBI to learn about Prasanna Roy's huge assets. Prasanna Roy is a real estate businessman, who also had a car business. Sources said that Prasanna Roy used to work as a painter and contractor and his meteoric rise caught the attention of CIA officials.
Roy is said to have five houses in New Town and Rajarhat areas alone. In addition, the officials of the Central Investigation Agency have found traces of his huge property outside the state. However, in November 2023, Prasanna Roy was granted bail by the Supreme Court.
