A team from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the alleged irregularities in appointments in municipalities, questioned Rahul Singh, the son-in-law of state fire and emergency services minister Sujit Bose, for over an hour and a half on Monday.

Singh and his lawyer arrived at the ED’s office in the CGO Complex in Salt Lake around 11am, responding to a summons sent by the central investigating agency.

According to sources, he was summoned because investigators wanted a clearer picture of the alleged flow of illegal funds linked to recruitment in municipalities.

“I have submitted the documents sought and have answered their questions,” Singh said.

Monday’s interrogation came within a week of the agency sending summons to some of Bose’s family members, including his wife, son and daughter, to face interrogation in connection with its probe into the alleged irregularities.

Senior officials stated that they wanted to question Singh before interrogating other members of the minister’s family for a clearer picture of the alleged transfer of funds.

Bose’s family members were likely to be questioned later in the week, sources said.

“Some electronic and physical evidence in the form of bank transactions and other documents were seized earlier. We wanted to get some more clarity on some of the transactions,” an ED official said.

Last month, ED teams visited Bose’s Salt Lake office, a restaurant owned by his son, the house of Nital Dutta, the vice-chairman of South Dum Dum Municipality, and one of Bose’s close aides, as well as the houses of a chartered accountant and an auditor at Nagerbazar and Kankurgachi.

“The ED and the CBI will step up their raids ahead of the ensuing elections in Bengal. We are used to seeing all of this. It’s easy to say someone is involved in corruption. People who have voted for me, know me, remain my biggest certificate,” Bose had said after the search and seizure operation in October was over.

Sources in the central agency stated that the probe was triggered by the agency’s 2023 findings, which suggested that Ayan Sil, allegedly involved in irregularities in recruitment in government-aided schools, was also allegedly responsible for recruiting nearly 5,000 candidates to permanent posts in approximately 60 municipalities across the state.

There are 123 municipalities and seven municipal corporations across the state.

Under scrutiny are several civic bodies near Calcutta, including South Dum Dum, Kamarhati, Panihati, North Dum Dum, and Baranagar.

Senior officials in the state urban development department stated that the collective sanctioned strength in 123 municipalities and seven municipal corporations (excluding the KMC) is just over 79,000, and the current strength is around 39,000.