Backed by a new-look Central Armed Police Forces armed to the teeth, the Enforcement Directorate conducted raids on Thursday at the residences of Bengal Fire Minister Sujit Bose, his senior party colleague, Trinamool Congress MLA Tapas Roy, and Subodh Chakraborty, a South Dum Dum municipality councillor.
The raids were carried out in connection with the multi-crore municipal services recruitment scam that surfaced early last year when ED officials raided the house of businessman Ayan Sil due to his alleged links with the teachers’ recruitment scam.
While an 11-hour raid concluded at Roy and Chakrabarty’s residences, officials were still conducting searches at Bose’s house at the time of the latest reports.
While the first team of ED officials raided two houses and an office belonging to Bose in Birati, located in the northern fringes of Kolkata, the second team conducted raids at the residence and office of Tapas Roy on SN Banerjee Road in central Kolkata. Simultaneously, a third team carried out a raid at the residence of Subodh Chakrabarty, a councilor in Dum Dum Municipality.
The TMC leadership strongly reacted to Thursday’s raids, characterising them as part of pre-election vendetta politics. Bengal Minister Shashi Panja remarked, “This is nothing but vendetta politics before the elections. As they cannot defeat us politically, they are resorting to this route.”
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh criticised Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari, stating, “The ED is being prompted by Suvendu.
A few days ago, he had said, “Wait and see what happens in North 24 Parganas. Mamata Banerjee had earlier entrusted Sujit Bose with the charges of Basirhat and Dum Dum Lok Sabha constituencies. The ED has been manipulated to target him, preventing him from dedicating time to the organisation. The BJP aims to score in a vacant field, but that is their daydream. They will never succeed in their nefarious designs.”
Another TMC spokesperson, Debangshu Bhattacharya, warned the “BJP’s Babus from Delhi,” saying, “If a veteran man like Tapas Roy, who enjoys a clean image, is targeted, you can easily guess what the ED and BJP are up to.” He added, “Everything will be remembered in the future, and nothing will be forgotten.”
Roy, a former Bengal minister normally known for his integrity, however, refused to comment, said, “The party leadership will react to today’s developments. Insofar as I am concerned, I have never been involved in any kind of monetary transaction. The raids could be related to politics because no one would have raided my house had I not been a politician.”
Bengal Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury also gave a clean chit to Roy, saying, “I do not believe that Tapas Roy is involved in corruption.”
However, none would vouch for Bose, even as BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya asked, “How can a man who began his career as a fast-food seller earn so much money to construct palatial buildings and own so much property?”
Bose’s son, on the other hand, stated, “We have nothing to hide. We are cooperating with the ED and answering all their questions as law-abiding citizens of the country.”
Reportedly, the ED discovered the names of Bose, Roy, and others in the diary of Ayan Sil, who is currently in jail. Sil, the owner of an IT company, was entrusted with conducting the selection tests for municipal services.
The accidental recovery of documents from a bin at Sil’s house brought to light a multi-crore municipal services scam across 51 municipalities in the state, according to officials.
ED officials, after arresting Sil in relation to the teachers’ recruitment scam, found certain names. The code names SB and Tapas Da prompted the investigators to further interrogate him when the names of senior TMC politicians came up. Sources stated, “The names of Bose and Roy came up when Ayan Sil was further interrogated,” adding that Bose’s role, particularly in the civic services scam as the Chairman of Barangar Municipality, was being looked into.
Meanwhile, having been once beaten, the CAPF officials took extra security measures for Thursday’s raids. Last week, CAPF and ED sleuths were attacked at Sandeshkhali by a thousand-strong group of local Trinamool Congress toughie Shahjehan Sheikh, whom they were raiding in connection with the ratio scam that led to former Bengal Food Minister Jyotipriya Mallick landing in jail.
Equipped with shields, head and body gear, batons, tear gas, and sound grenades, the CAPF personnel not only cordoned off areas and the TMC leaders’ houses but also conducted route marches throughout, according to sources.
