The Enforcement Directorate on Monday arrested Sujit Bose, Trinamool leader and Bengal’s former minister for fire services, in connection with an alleged municipal recruitment scam. Earlier on Monday, the central agency had summoned Bose and his son, Samudra, for interrogation.
Sujit Bose was interrogated for more than seven hours, ED sources said. This is the first arrest of a high-profile minister in the Trinamool government since the change of guard in Bengal. Allegations of institutionalised corruption were a major poll plank of the BJP in the campaign for the Assembly election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah made multiple references to Trinamool's alleged corruption. After his first cabinet meeting on Monday morning, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had said the new government would take all steps to weed out corruption from the administration.
During the 15 years of Trinamool rule, several ministers, MLAs and key government officials were interrogated and arrested in the school teachers' recruitment scam and for alleged coal and cattle smuggling. Sujit Bose, the former Bidhannagar MLA and vice-chairman of the South Dum Dum municipality, was summoned and appeared before the ED on May 1.
Earlier, he had evaded summons issued by the central agency, which probes money trail in corruption cases, saying he was busy with the election campaign. The CBI, which had probed the municipal recruitment scam, had claimed municipal jobs were handed in exchange for cash, similar to what had happened with the recruitment of primary teachers in the state.
The ED had asked Sujit to provide documents related to his properties and wealth. The ED and CBI have been probing an alleged recruitment scam involving illegal appointments in over 60 Bengal municipalities, with over 600 jobs suspected to be fraudulent. Bose and other officials have been questioned, with investigators alleging a nexus with a businessman.