The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday attached assets totalling close to ₹3.6 crore of Chandranath Sinha, the minister for correctional affairs, MSME and textile, and his family members as a part of its probe into alleged irregularities in recruitments in state-aided schools.
Sources in the central investigating agency said around 10 properties of the Trinamool Congress MLA from Bolpur and his wife and son were seized as “proceeds of crime,” and the attached properties were valued at the prevailing market price.
The attached properties, sources said, include houses, apartments and land parcels spread in Bolpur.
“We will seek proof of the source of funds for buying these properties from the owners. If that is not done, these properties may be put up for auction,” a senior ED official said, refusing to go into the details.
The move comes almost six months after the central agency filed a chargesheet against Sinha for his alleged involvement in the alleged irregularities in recruitments at state-aided schools. The chargesheet said the minister had allegedly received money from several aspirants in exchange for promises of jobs.
The ED began the probe under the PMLA based on an FIR registered by the CBI’s anti-corruption branch, Calcutta, on Calcutta High Court orders.
In March 2024, the ED carried out search and seizure operations at Sinha’s Bolpur residence, after his name surfaced in the case. Officers said some of the accused, including the arrested Kuntal Ghosh and Prasanna Roy, had taken Sinha’s name.