The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided multiple premises linked to state fire and emergency services minister and Trinamool Congress MLA Sujit Bose, as well as a bar and restaurant owned by his son, in connection with alleged recruitment irregularities in Bengal municipalities.
Sources said the central agency conducted searches at 10 locations across Calcutta and its outskirts as part of the ongoing investigation into alleged corruption in municipal recruitment.
Bose’s Salt Lake Sector I office was raided for over eight hours starting at 6am. “This is a political move,” Bose told reporters. “They (central agencies) come during elections. They do not find anything, but they do this to create pressure. Last year, they searched my home. Did they find anything?” he said.
He added: “They are doing their job. We will do ours. The public knows everything. We have the people’s certificate.”
In January 2024, his two homes in Lake Town and his office were searched for over 14 hours, with central forces deployed across the area. The ED team had seized documents and his mobile phone for examination at the time.
On Friday, ED teams, accompanied by dozens of central paramilitary personnel, fanned out across multiple sites including the residence of South Dum Dum Municipality vice-chairman Netai Dutta, and Bengal Dhaba — a restaurant owned by Bose’s son, Samudra — located at Golaghata in Lake Town. Other locations searched included premises on Sarat Bose Road, New Alipore, and Girish Park.
The ED did not issue an official statement on Friday’s raids. But sources said that the searches were aimed at recovering documents related to the alleged recruitment scam that has surfaced across several Bengal municipalities.
Bose, reportedly close to Dutta, said that nothing was found at Dutta’s residence. Dutta himself could not be reached for comment.
Last year, after the central agency completed its search at the minister’s home, Bose came out and announced that he would resign if found guilty of accepting bribes for illegal recruitment.
The alleged municipal recruitment irregularities came to light during the investigation into corruption in state-aided school appointments.
Businessman Ayan Sil, arrested for his alleged role in the school recruitment scam, was later also accused of involvement in similar irregularities in municipalities, central agency officials said.
In April 2023, Calcutta High Court directed the CBI to investigate these municipal-level irregularities. During the joint probe by the CBI and ED, alleged evidence surfaced indicating manipulation in appointments by several civic bodies.
According to ED sources, municipalities under the scanner include Kanchrapara, New Barrackpore, Kamarhati, Titagarh, Baranagar, Halisahar, South Dum Dum, Dum Dum, and Taki.
It is alleged that irregularities occurred at various levels of recruitment across these municipalities.