The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday, 9 July filed a chargesheet against former West Bengal minister Sujit Bose and his son Samudra Bose before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata, in connection with the ongoing probe into the multi-crore municipalities job recruitment scam. The total scam amount has been pegged at ₹250 crore, according to the chargesheet.

Key Accused and Charges

The chargesheet also names Jyotishman Chattopadhyay, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, along with two corporate entities linked to the Bose family. Chattopadhyay is accused of misusing his official position and committing irregularities in municipal recruitment processes for personal gain, according to sources aware of the development.

During the period in question, Chattopadhyay held a senior post in the West Bengal Directorate of Local Bodies and the state Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Department, which was then headed by Firhad Hakim — currently a sitting All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator. The Directorate of Local Bodies is the nodal body responsible for recruitment in urban civic bodies, including municipal corporations and municipalities across the state.

What the Chargesheet Alleges Against Sujit Bose

According to the chargesheet, Sujit Bose alone recommended the names of 340 job seekers in exchange for money, of whom 284 individuals received appointment letters. The ED claims an average of ₹6 lakh was collected from each candidate — pointing to a systematic cash-for-appointment operation at the municipal level.

Bose was arrested by ED officials on the night of 11 May following a marathon interrogation session and is currently in judicial custody. Last month, a single-judge vacation bench of the Calcutta High Court rejected his petition seeking to quash the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) filed against him.

How the Investigation Unfolded

The ED's probe into the municipalities job irregularities began after raids and search operations at the residence of Ayan Shil, a middleman linked to both the municipalities job case and the separate multi-crore cash-for-school job scam during the previous TMC regime. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) subsequently launched a parallel investigation following directions from the Calcutta High Court and arrested Shil.

Joint CBI and ED investigations traced unauthorised assets worth over ₹100 crore to Shil alone — underscoring the scale of the alleged racket that spanned both municipal and school recruitment networks.

Broader Context

This chargesheet is the latest development in a widening judicial and investigative dragnet that has ensnared multiple functionaries of the previous West Bengal government. This is not an isolated case — it runs parallel to the school jobs scam, in which several TMC-era officials and politicians have already faced arrest. The Calcutta High Court's active role in ordering CBI probes has been a defining feature of both cases, reflecting judicial discomfort with state-level investigative inaction. The filing of a formal chargesheet signals the ED is moving toward trial, raising the political stakes ahead of upcoming local body elections in the state.