A team from the education department visited Surendranath College on Saturday to collect details of civil construction work carried out on the campus by a vendor who was recently arrested for allegedly keeping several rooms in the college under lock and key without authorisation.
Three joint directors of public instruction and an auditor met the principals of Surendranath College, Surendranath Law College, Surendranath Evening College and Surendranath College for Women on Saturday morning as part of the inquiry.
Investigators are examining allegations that the arrested vendor, Paritosh Dutta, secured civil construction contracts at all four colleges because of his alleged proximity to a governing body member who is also a local Trinamool Congress leader.
An employee of one of the four colleges said the officials sought to verify whether the civil construction projects had received formal approval from the respective governing bodies and to ascertain the value of the contracts awarded for the work.
The erstwhile Mamata Banerjee government had nominated Debasish Bandyopadhyay, a Trinamool Congress leader in Sealdah, as the education department’s representative to the governing bodies of the four colleges.
A Calcutta University official alleged that Bandyopadhyay played a key role in facilitating the award of civil construction contracts worth several crores of rupees to Dutta.
The BJP government dissolved the governing bodies of all government-aided colleges after coming to power.
The officials asked the college heads about the tendering process that was followed.
“They also sought details about a vendor who supplied computers and printers to the colleges. This vendor also got the contracts because of his proximity to Bandyopadhyay,” an official said.
This vendor alone allegedly supplied computers, laptops and printers worth ₹2 crore to the four colleges in the past five years.
The college heads handed statements on their expenditure to the visiting officials.
The officials asked the principal of Surendranath College, a day college, about the rooms on the fifth floor that Dutta had constructed.
“The education department officials wanted to know whether necessary permission was taken from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and whether load-bearing capacity was checked before constructing the restrooms,” sources in the college said.
When contacted, Purnendu Prakash Pal, the teacher-in-charge of Surendranath College, declined comment.
Surendranath College came in the news when bundles of termite-infested ₹100 and ₹500 notes, stashed inside two trolley bags, and a gun were found on the college premises during an anti-mosquito drive by civic staff on June 2.
As the investigation widened, questions emerged over the role of a former governing body member in the award of virtually all civil construction contracts to a single vendor.
Three of the institutions — Surendranath College, Surendranath Law College and Surendranath Evening College — function from the same premises, while Surendranath College for Women is situated next door.
Sources said the inquiry was also seeking to determine the role played by the government nominee on the governing bodies.
“Only two specific vendors appeared to have been repeatedly chosen, whether for civil construction work or for the supply of computers and accessories. We want to examine the governing body resolutions to understand why these particular vendors were selected,” an official said.
The principals have also been instructed to ensure that access to the campuses is restricted and that the entry of outsiders is regulated.