In a new turn in the investigation of the multi-crore cash-for-school job case in West Bengal, an Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer part of the probe has been moved out of the investigating team.
This happened after it was revealed that he downloaded 16 of his personal files onto the computer of the prime accused in the case, a corporate firm.
According to IANS, the officer has also been issued a transfer notice to the ED's Guwahati office.
This decision was taken after an internal probe into the department. In the probe, everyone working in the department admitted that inadvertently downloading personal files onto a suspect's computer before, during, and even after the raid was highly irresponsible.
Due to this one act, the ED has reportedly faced extreme embarrassment on various fronts. An employee of the corporate firm had already filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime division of Kolkata Police, accusing ED of “planting evidence” in the computer during the raid and search operations.
Justice Amrita Sinha of the Calcutta High Court has also expressed her ire at the conduct of the Central Agency after the actions of this officer.
The ED, in its defence, clarified that the 16 personal files downloaded by one of their agents on the computer of the corporate firm in question were done unintentionally while searching for a student hostel for his daughter, who was recently admitted to one of the reputed engineering universities in the state.
It also clarified that the downloads happened after the raid and search operations, which took place under CCTV monitoring and in the presence of the employees of the company as well as the independent witnesses present at the spot.
These two witnesses included a Deputy Manager and an Assistant Manager of the state-run Punjab National Bank.
