Kolkata, Feb 24 (NationPress) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a summons to Bibhas Adhikari concerning the primary school recruitment scandal in West Bengal, according to sources within the agency on Tuesday.

Adhikari is known to be a close ally of Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya, who was apprehended by the ED in relation to the teacher recruitment fraud within the primary education sector.

Currently, Bhattacharya is out on bail, a privilege granted to him by the Calcutta High Court in 2024.

It is important to highlight that both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED are investigating this teacher recruitment issue.

Previously, the ED and the CBI executed search operations at multiple locations associated with Bibhas Adhikari, including in Nalhati, situated in Birbhum district.

The CBI has also summoned him on various occasions. A chargesheet has been filed against Bibhas in connection with the recruitment case, and this time, the ED has called him in for questioning.

Interestingly, Bibhas, who was the former president of the Trinamool Congress Block-II of Nalhati in Birbhum, became embroiled in this recruitment scandal following the arrest of the former president of the West Bengal Primary Education Board and Trinamool MLA, Manik Bhattacharya.

He was often referred to as Manik's 'close friend.'

Bibhas has also previously held the position of president of an organization overseeing private B.Ed and D.L.Ed colleges.

After Manik's arrest in 2022, officials from the ED conducted searches at a flat located on Amherst Street in north Kolkata, claiming a connection between Bibhas and that property. Following the operation, the flat was sealed.

In April 2023, the CBI carried out a search at Bibhas' residence and ashram in Birbhum, where they confiscated a significant number of documents. Subsequently, CBI officials summoned him multiple times to their office at Nizam Palace in Kolkata.

Notably, Kuntal Ghosh, a former Trinamool youth leader from Balagarh in Hooghly district, who was arrested in connection with the recruitment fraud, questioned why Bibhas had not been taken into custody. Furthermore, Gopal Dalpati, another individual linked to the recruitment scam, also voiced criticisms against Bibhas. This led to further CBI raids at Bibhas' residence and ashram in Nalhati.

By October 2025, the CBI had submitted the final chargesheet in the primary recruitment fraud case, listing charges against Manik Bhattacharya, Bibhas Adhikari, and Ratna Bagchi, another accused in the case.

The CBI's investigation uncovered that approximately 350 individuals were unlawfully granted jobs in the primary recruitment process. Investigators suspect that Bibhas acted as an agent within this operation.