The CBI on Sunday conducted searches at 12 locations, including at the residences of senior West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim and TMC MLA Madan Mitra, in different parts of the State in connection with its probe into alleged irregularities in recruitments made by civic bodies.
Hakim, the Minister of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, is also the Mayor of Kolkata. He is a senior leader of the Trinamool Congress) and has considerable sway in the party’s organisation.
A team of CBI officers reached his residence in south Kolkata’s Chetla area along with a large contingent of Central forces in the morning and two CBI officers are questioning him, officials said.
A CBI team also searched the residence of Mitra, a former Minister and the MLA of Kamarhati in North 24 Parganas district, in Bhawanipore area, around 3 km from Hakim’s residence in Chetla.
“The investigations have revealed that Mitra had a specific role in the recruitments made in Kamarhati Municipality,” an official said.
Among the other places that the CBI searched were the houses of former chairman of Kanchrapara Municipality Sudama Roy, former chairman of Halisahar Municipality Angshuman Roy and Krishnanagar Municipality’s former chief Ashim Ghosh, officials said.
“CBI today conducted searches around 12 places, including at Kolkata, Kanchrapara, Barrackpore, Halisahar, Dumdum, North Dum Dum, Krishnanagar, Taki, Kamarhati, Chetla, Bhowanipore etc. At the premises of certain persons, including public servants in an ongoing investigation of a case,” the CBI said in a statement.
Two premises each of Hakim and Mitra are being searched in the operation, officials said.
Both Hakim and Mitra were arrested by the CBI in 2021 in the Narada sting operation case. Mitra was also arrested by the CBI in 2014 in the Saradha chit fund scam.
On Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched multiple locations, including the residence of Food and Supplies Minister Rathin Ghosh, in connection with the recruitment case.
It is alleged by the central investigating agencies that around 1,500 people were illegally recruited by different civic bodies in the State between 2014 and 2018 against monetary considerations.
The agency had taken over the case on the orders of Calcutta High Court.
“It was alleged that all contracts pertaining to various municipalities, district primary school councils etc. For the recruitment of Group C and Group D employees were given to the said (single) company. It was further alleged that the said company was entrusted with all the tasks like setting up of question papers, printing and scanning of OMR sheets and preparation of final merit list etc,” the CBI said.
It was also alleged that the director of said private company and others, including public servants, hatched conspiracy among themselves and in pursuant to that conspiracy, the accused(being responsible for the printing, designing and evaluation of OMR sheets) allegedly facilitated the illegal appointments of several unmeritorious candidates in several municipalities in lieu of money, the agency said.