The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday carried out a five-hour search operation at the residence of former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee in Kolkata, intensifying its probe into the multi-crore school jobs scam just days before the state heads to Assembly elections.
According to officials, ED personnel arrived at Chatterjee’s Naktala residence around 10:45 am, accompanied by central forces that cordoned off the premises. The agency proceeded to question the former minister during the search, which continued for several hours.
A separate ED team simultaneously raided the Rajarhat office of Prasanna Kumar Roy, identified by the agency as a key intermediary in the alleged recruitment irregularities linked to the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (SSC).
The search operation concluded around 4:30 pm, with officials leaving the premises without briefing the media stationed outside. Chatterjee, too, did not appear before reporters despite repeated requests.
Sources indicated that the fresh action was triggered after Chatterjee failed to respond to three summons issued by the ED following his release on bail. Investigators are seeking further clarity on irregularities in the appointment of teaching and non-teaching staff in government-aided schools.
Chatterjee, once a powerful figure in the Mamata Banerjee-led government, had been arrested by the ED on July 23, 2022, in connection with the scam. The arrest followed dramatic raids at properties linked to him and his associate Arpita Mukherjee, from whose flats investigators recovered over ₹50 crore in cash along with substantial quantities of gold jewellery.
He spent nearly 39 months in custody before securing conditional bail from the Supreme Court and other courts in related cases, leading to his release on November 11, 2025. His bail conditions require him to surrender his passport and restrict his movement to the jurisdiction of the trial court.
The ED has described Chatterjee as a “mastermind” in the scam, which involves illegal appointments facilitated during his tenure as education minister.
The political fallout from the case has been significant. Following his arrest, Chatterjee was stripped of his ministerial portfolios and suspended from the Trinamool Congress (TMC). In a further setback, the party has denied him renomination from the Behala Paschim constituency for the 2026 Assembly elections, a seat he had held for four consecutive terms since 2006.
The latest enforcement action comes at a politically sensitive moment, with polling in West Bengal scheduled in two phases on April 23 and April 29, adding fresh momentum to an already contentious electoral contest.
