ED files charge sheet against another Bengal Minister in primary teachers' recruitment case

Kolkata, Aug 7 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED), on Thursday, filed a charge sheet against West Bengal Minister in-charge of the micro, small and medium enterprises and textiles department, Chandranath Sinha, in the case regarding irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers in state-run schools in the state.

Sinha is the second Minister in the Bengal government against whom ED had filed a charge sheet in this case, the first being the former West Bengal Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee.

The ED filed the charge sheet against Minister Sinha in a special court of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Kolkata on Wednesday, said an insider from the central investigation agency.

Sinha is a two-time Trinamool MLA from Bolpur Assembly constituency in Birbhum district.

He twice avoided appearing before the ED officers.

On Thursday, Sinha suddenly appeared at the ED office. However, it was not clear whether he had been questioned or not.

Responding to the development that the ED has filed a charge sheet against him in the primary recruitment case, the Minister said he had heard about it.

"However, I do not know about the matter completely. We will look into it," Sinha said on Thursday afternoon.

On July 31, ED investigators had sent a request for property documents from Sinha.

At the same time, documents related to all the movable and immovable properties of the Minister and his family were sought.

However, Sinha did not appear before ED officers at its CGO Complex office in Kolkata's Salt Lake.

He had reportedly asked the ED for more time.

He told the ED officers that although he could appear before them, he was preparing all the documents.

In a surprising move, he went to the ED office on Thursday, a day after the central probe agency submitted a charge sheet in his name before a special court.

The ED officials first secured the name of the Minister from the diary of the middleman and now suspended Trinamool Congress leader Kuntal Ghosh, who was later arrested by the central agency officials.

In March last year, the ED officials conducted raid and search operations at the Minister's residence at Bolpur in Birbhum district.

After the raid, the ED officials seized cash worth Rs 41 lakh and a mobile phone from Sinha's residence.

Sinha is known to be close to Trinamool Congress strongman and former Trinamool Congress district president in Birbhum, Anubrata Mondal.

In March last year, Sinha was also summoned by the ED for questioning in connection with the multi-crore cattle-smuggling case in West Bengal.

--IANS

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