SSC recruitment scam: CBI court extends former WB minister's custody till October 19

On Wednesday, October 6, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court at Alipore extended the judicial custody of former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee till October 19 in connection with the central agency's probe into the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam, as stated in a report by PTI. Additionally, former West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) President Kalyanmoy Ganguly, ex-Secretary of West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) Ashok Saha and the former adviser to SSC, SP Sinha, were taken into judicial custody till October 19 on a prayer by the CBI. According to the order of the Calcutta High Court, CBI is investigating the scam. 

On July 23, Chatterjee and his alleged close associate, Arpita Mukherjee, had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the money trail in the SSC recruitment scam. Apart from bullion, jewellery and property deeds, it seized Rs 49.80 crore in cash from the latter's flats in the city. Consequently, the ED alleged that Chatterjee and Mukherjee laundered money by involving themselves in a criminal conspiracy for giving teaching post jobs illegally, based on recommendations by the SSC, in state-sponsored and aided schools, and generated huge proceeds of crime. Additionally, in a charge sheet submitted before a Prevention of Money Laundering Act court, the ED said that the total worth of the seizures, including the cash, amounts to more than Rs 100 crore.

On September 16, the CBI obtained custody of Chatterjee for questioning and, thereafter on September 21, he was remanded in judicial custody. Meanwhile, the former minister is also in judicial remand in connection with the ED case. Following his arrest, Chatterjee was relieved of his ministerial duties by the Mamata Banerjee government. Trinamool Congress also removed him from his posts in the party, along with the General Secretary post, as stated in a report by PTI.