Bengal recruitment scam: Ex-PA of Trinamool MLA at CBI office

Kolkata, May 1 (IANS) Probir Koyal, former personal assistant (PA) of Tapas Saha, the Trinamool Congress MLA from the Tehatta Assembly seat in West Bengal's Nadia district, reached the CBI office in Kolkata on Monday in connection with the alleged multi-crore recruitment scam in Kolkata.

Sources said that Koyal was summoned for questioning about the high-value transactions in his bank account.

Already the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths have traced bank transactions worth Rs 2 crore from a particular bank account of Koyal in the beginning of 2022. These high-value transactions, according to sources, took place within a period of just two months. The agency has already contacted the bank officials concerned for details on this count.

It is learnt that Koyal was asked to appear at the office of the anti-corruption branch of CBI at Nizam Palace in Kolkata on Monday by 12 noon along with all his bank -related documents. "However, he arrived at our office by 11 a.m.," a CBI associate said.

Sources said that the central agency sleuths, which conducted raid and search operations at the residence of Tapas Saha last month, were able to recover some incriminating documents relating to the recruitments of not just teaching and non-teaching staff in the state-run schools but also similar appointments in certain state government departments like fire services and excise.

Saha, however, claimed that he had been a victim of conspiracy hatched by his own party colleagues in the district.

The CBI probe against Saha had been initiated following an order by the Calcutta High Court on April 18, which noted that since the state police refused to act on the allegations about Saha's involvement in the recruitment scam, the probe in the matter is fit to be handed over to the CBI.

Saha is the fourth Trinamool MLA to come under the scanner of central agencies in connection with the recruitment scam after former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, Manik Bhattacharya, ex-president of West Bengal Board of Primary Education, and Jiban Krishna Saha, the party MLA from the Burdwan Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district.

While Chatterjee and Bhattacharya are currently in judicial custody, Jiban Krishna Saha is in custody of the CBI.

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