Bengal School Employment Scandal: CBI Unveils Call Records Linking Partha Chatterjee
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Kolkata, Jan 13 (NationPress) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has presented its third and concluding supplementary charge sheet concerning the cash-for-school job scandal in West Bengal filed at a special court in Kolkata. This document outlines how the call records from the mobile device of a middleman have linked former state Education Minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general, Partha Chatterjee, to the alleged fraud.
According to sources, the CBI's charge sheet also identifies a bank account associated with the middleman, Santu Gangopadhyay, which was reportedly utilized for transferring the proceeds from the alleged scam.
The final balance in this bank account amounted to Rs 3.08 crore and was held at a private bank branch situated in the Sakuntala Park region of southern Kolkata.
Sources indicate that Gangopadhyay, a close associate of Chatterjee and previously a minor real estate promoter, experienced a significant increase in financial success starting in 2014, coinciding with Chatterjee's appointment as the state education minister.
From that moment, Gangopadhyay's real estate ventures became a primary channel for diverting the illicit gains from the school job scandal, with the funds being falsely represented as investments in real estate.
Earlier this month, the CBI secured authorization from West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose to submit the charge sheet against Chatterjee, a necessary step for the court to officially accept any charge sheet filed against a state Assembly member.
Following this approval, preparations are underway to initiate the process of framing charges against Chatterjee in the CBI-registered case pertaining to the alleged school job fraud.
Chatterjee was initially arrested in July 2022 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after substantial cash and gold were discovered at the residences of his close aide, Arpita Mukherjee. Since then, Chatterjee has remained incarcerated at the Presidency Central Correctional Home in South Kolkata, whereas Mukherjee was recently granted conditional bail.
Moreover, the CBI has recently also detained him in the same school job case, complicating his chances for release from prison.
Meanwhile, the total amount seized by the Enforcement Directorate in the cash-for-school-job case has escalated to Rs 239.26 crore so far.
