On Friday (1st December), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that cash worth Rs 34 lakh, 1.2 KG of gold, and appointment letters of primary schools were seized from the residence of Trinamool Congress Party’s MLA Jafikul Islam and the premises of various colleges run by him. A total of 11 institutes were raided by CBI along with the MLA’s residence. Jafikul Islam was elected from the Domkal constituency in the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election. These raids took place in connection with the West Bengal SSC teacher recruitment scam.
Officials of the federal agency have stated that simultaneous raids were conducted at eight locations across the state. The residences of Jafikul Islam, the legislator from the Domkal constituency in Murshidabad, and Bappaditya Dasgupta, a councillor in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, were among the places targeted.
Additionally, raids were carried out at the residences of Debaraj Chakravarti, a councillor from Salt Lake, and the homes of Shyamal Kar, a businessman in the Cooch Behar district of North Bengal, along with his brother Sajal Kar. Furthermore, a private B.Ed college was also subjected to the raid.
The raid at the MLA’s house lasted for 12 hours on Thursday. The agency was trying to ascertain whether he acquired properties in the names of his relatives. Islam stated that he possesses no unaccounted-for properties. CBI sources also reported the confiscation of transfer letters for government employees from the office of Debraj Chakraborty, a member of the mayor-in-council for Trinamool in Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation.
According to reports, the investigation agency found cash in three bags at the MLA’s residence. MLA Jafikul Islam said, “I never had any link with the SSC scam. I sold a property a few days back and the cash was in my house. My wife has shown them the deed. The officials said we should have kept the money in the bank.”
He added, “I have supporting documents to show why the cash was at my home. I will get them back. I was busy in the assembly and could not deposit the amount in the bank.”
In his affidavit for the 2021 assembly polls, Jafikul Islam declared an income of Rs 8 lakh for the financial year 2019-20. His wife’s income for the same period was reported as Rs 6 lakh. The disclosed value of his immovable assets, encompassing residence, and agricultural and non-agricultural land, stood at Rs 2.5 crore, while his bank deposits and investments totaled Rs 1.71 crore.
About the transfer letters for government employees found at his office, Debraj Chakraborty said, “They found a copy of the higher secondary result of a candidate in my office. The candidate might have approached me and given me a copy of the result. Naturally, residents of my constituency approach me if they are in trouble. But that does not mean that I have accepted any gratification.”
CBI officers also instructed Debraj Chakraborty to furnish his bank statements and those of his relatives. Chakraborty mentioned that the CBI conducted a raid at his second property, where his wife Aditi Munshi, a TMC legislator and renowned folk singer, operates a music school.
Bappaditya Dasgupta was questioned for five hours. The prime focus of the questions was on former minister Partha Chatterjee and his associate Arpita Mukherjee in connection with the recruitment scam. He said, “I answered to the best of my knowledge. I will cooperate with them if they need me in future. They have taken copies of my tax returns, my cell phone and some CVs of residents from my office. I had never recommended anyone for a job and none of my family members held a government job.”
What is the Bengal Teacher SSC recruitment scam?
The West Bengal Teacher’s recruitment scam, more commonly referred to as the SSC scam, looks into the recruitment process conducted through the State Level Selection Test (SLT) conducted by SSC from 2014 to 2016.
The West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) announced in 2014 that teachers would be hired at state-run schools in West Bengal through the State Level Selection Test (SLST), which is when the alleged scam first surfaced. In 2016, the hiring process got underway. At that time, Partha Chatterjee was the Minister-in-Charge of the West Bengal Department of Higher Education and School Education. Several complaints were submitted to the Calcutta High Court citing irregularities in the hiring procedure.
The petitioners alleged that many examinees who got lesser marks ranked high on the merit list. Several claims also surfaced regarding the receipt of appointment letters by some applicants who weren’t even on the merit list.
In a separate, but related instance, the Bengal government had in 2016 sent the School Service Commission (SSC) notification for the hiring of 13,000 Group D staff in government-run or aided schools. Interestingly, the tenure of the panel responsible for said recruitment expired in 2019, but several petitioners alleged that recruitment had taken place despite the expiry of the panel’s tenure and as many as 25 persons were allegedly appointed by the WBBSE.
However, when the case came up for hearing, the petitioners alleged that not 25 but over 500 people were appointed after the SSC panel’s expiration and were now receiving salaries from the state government. A CBI probe was launched in the case following an order by the Calcutta High Court bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay. The recent raids are also a part of the probe.