Kolkata, Sep 6 (NationPress) West Bengal Minister Chandranath Sinha surrendered on Saturday to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, as part of the Enforcement Directorate investigation into alleged irregularities in the primary school recruitment scandal.

As the state minister overseeing micro, small, and medium enterprises as well as textiles, Sinha appeared before the special court in Kolkata earlier in the day to comply with prior court orders.

While the ED requested his custody, the court granted him interim bail on a personal bond of Rs 10,000, with specific conditions. The court stipulated that although he has been granted bail, Sinha is prohibited from leaving his Assembly constituency or Kolkata for the time being.

An ED official noted that Sinha is expected to cooperate fully with the investigation and the investigating officers involved. "These conditions must be adhered to until the hearings concerning the case are completed," stated a source from the ED.

Last month, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose approved the charge sheet filed against Sinha in the primary recruitment matter. The charge sheet was accepted in a special court of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Kolkata, following the governor's endorsement.

The court has ordered that Sinha be summoned by the central investigative agency within 15 days, thereby requiring him to surrender by September 6.

The ED filed a charge sheet against Sinha on August 6 in the context of the primary teachers recruitment case in a special PMLA court within the city.

Sinha becomes the second Minister in the Bengal government to face a charge sheet from the ED regarding this case, the first being the former West Bengal Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee.

Representing Bolpur Assembly in the Birbhum district, Sinha is a two-time Trinamool MLA who had previously avoided appearing before ED officials.

On August 7, Sinha made an unexpected appearance at the ED office, though it remains unclear if he was interrogated.

On July 31, the ED had requested property documents from Sinha, alongside documentation regarding all movable and immovable assets belonging to him and his family.

However, Sinha did not show up at the ED's CGO Complex office in Kolkata's Salt Lake, reportedly asking for more time.

ED officials had initially identified Sinha's name from the diary of a middleman, the now-suspended Trinamool Congress leader Kuntal Ghosh, who was subsequently arrested by the agency.

In March of last year, ED officials conducted raids and searches at Sinha's residence in Bolpur, where they seized cash worth Rs 41 lakh and a mobile phone.

Sinha is known to have close ties with Anubrata Mondal, a prominent figure within the Trinamool Congress and the former district president in Birbhum.