West Bengal: TMC scandal deepens as youth leader confesses to passing millions to former education minister in teacher recruitment scam

During questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday, January 25, Kunal Ghosh, a youth leader of the Trinamool Congress party in West Bengal, named former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee as the primary beneficiary of proceeds from a teacher recruitment scam, according to an IANS report. Ghosh is one of several TMC leaders arrested by the ED in connection with the scam, including Chatterjee.

IANS quotes Kunal Ghosh as saying, “The corruption is sky-high. Let there be a proper investigation and everything will be revealed. The names of the masterminds in the matter will surface. It will be revealed who is guilty and who is not. There has been a grand conspiracy in the matter. Rather this is the biggest conspiracy in recent times."

Sources state that Ghosh who broke down during his interrogation confessed and reportedly confessed to his involvement in a teacher recruitment scam and stated that a significant portion of the money collected was given to former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, according to sources. Ghosh allegedly collected around Rs 19 crore during illegal recruitments and passed on the majority of the funds, approximately Rs 4 crore to Chatterjee.

Ghosh also named Gopal Dalpati as a witness to the transaction. Ghosh's statement may be used as evidence to extend the judicial custody of Chatterjee, according to the sources. Ghosh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 21 following a prolonged raid and search.

During the course of search operations, ED sources recovered some crucial documents relating to the scam-related transactions. The search also led the ED to discover crucial documents related to the transactions during the scam. The youth leader was interrogated after Tapas Mandal, president of the All Bengal Teachers' Training Achievers' Association (ABTTAA), told the CBI that Ghosh had received a sizable sum of money totalling Rs 19 crore over the course of the scam’s various phases.