Bengal Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday demanded an explanation from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee regarding some of her family members’ suspected role in the multi-crore recruitment scam.
This, a day after the Enforcement Directorate arresting Sujay Bhadra popularly known as Kalighater kaku or the Uncle of Kalighat — considered the “biggest catch till now.”
Bhadra’s arrest is being considered as more important than that of former Bengal Education Minister and number two in the Mamata Banerjee Cabinet Partha Chatterjee, thanks to his alleged close links with some of the members of the Chief Minister’s family.
“It has come to light that Kaku was the CEO and a director of the Leaps and Bounds company of which many members of the Banerjee family like Amit Banerjee, Rujira Banerjee, Lata Banerjee were directors … as they are the closest relations of the Chief Minister, she now owes an explanation regarding the scam or scams that had been taking place in Bengal,” Adhikari said.
Alleging that the Chief Minister was the fountainhead of all the scams, Adhikai said Bhadra’s arrest had made it clear that the Agencies had reached till the chest level … now you have to reach the ear … then pull it to get to the head,” adding, “Mamata Banerjee is the queen of all the evils that have been taking place in Bengal.” Sources in the ED said that scam money flowed into Bhadra’s companies via two routes: first the money that came from cow, sand and coal smuggling and second, the money that came in from the recruitment scam. From Bhadra it went further up. Bhadra had earlier claimed that TMC national general secretary
Abhishek Banerjee was his “boss” and he worked in his company — of which Banerjee, his wife Rujira, uncle and aunt Amit and Lata Banerjee were directors. Bhadra who worked in the company since 2009 too was a director in the company and enjoyed the powers of the chief executive officer, insiders said.
Bhadra had also said that “no power on earth can reach up to my boss because he never receives phone calls … does not transact with anyone … so all the investigation will come and stop at my door steps.” The ED while seeking 14-days’ remand of Bhadra told the court that he functioned as a prime link between the State’s topmost family and the scamsters who collected money from all over the State from the job-seekers.