Manik Bhattacharya, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA who was detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in relation to the West Bengal teacher recruitment scam, has been placed in a 14-day ED detention facility. On October 25, the prominent TMC MLA will now be brought before the same court. Bhattacharya was transported to the ESI Hospital in Joka on the southern outskirts of Kolkata for a medical examination following his detention on Tuesday, and from there he was brought before a local court in Kolkata.
On Tuesday, as he was being introduced to the court, others in attendance referred to him as a thief and some even showed him their shoes. Even after he was brought into the courtroom, a handful of protesters kept demonstrating inside the courthouse, clapping their shoes and yelling that everyone in the Trinamool Congress was a “thief.”
The attorney for the ED testified in court that money worth Rs 2.64 crore had been traced to a bank account belonging to a business run by Manik Bhattacharya’s son.
“The aforementioned business and Bengal Teachers’ Training Institute had a contract. Investigators from the central agency have discovered agreements and transactions between the aforementioned corporation and a number of bachelor’s degree-granting institutions in the state, which warrant further investigation “The court was informed by the ED attorney.
The ED counsel raised concerns about the state’s future during this argument, since many ineligible applicants who were recruited as teachers are still working as teachers. “The qualified candidates are still demonstrating in Kolkata’s streets. Despite being qualified, they were unable to pay for their appointment, so they did not receive appointment letters “explained he.
The attorney for Manik Bhattacharya said that neither his client nor his family had received an arrest notification from the ED. The ED attorney refuted it, saying that Bhattacharya had already been issued an arrest letter and that a notation had been left indicating that he originally refused to accept the arrest document.
Meanwhile, ED sources claimed that the investigators have exchanged some WhatsApp messages with two numbers preserved under the names “RK” and “DD,” respectively, from Bhattacharya’s cellphone. “These discussions centred on the final merit list for hiring. Currently, we are attempting to locate the individuals against whom these numbers were registered “ED officials stated.
Samik Bhattacharya, the state spokesperson for the BJP, welcomed his arrest and stated that more powerful individuals in the case would eventually be apprehended since the federal agencies are going in the correct direction. Sujan Chakraborty, a member of the CPI(M) central committee, claimed that Manik Bhattacharya’s detention was inevitable. He tried to avoid being arrested by using a number of strategies, but in the end was unable to accomplish so.
While the central investigating agencies should wrap up their probe as soon as feasible without delaying it indefinitely to benefit any political party, Trinamool Congress’ Rajya Sabha member Dr. Santanu Sen stated that despite the party’s lack of reaction on the development.
