Kolkata, Dec 3 (NationPress) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) revealed on Tuesday that it has submitted the fifth supplementary charge sheet, also known as a supplementary prosecution complaint, in the extensive cash-for-school job scandal in West Bengal.

As per a statement released by the ED on Tuesday, a total of 29 individuals and corporate entities are included in the new charge sheet, which has been filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2020, before a specialized PMLA court in Kolkata.

This new charge sheet addresses malpractice in the hiring of primary teachers across various state-managed schools in West Bengal.

Sources familiar with the situation have indicated that the charge sheet mentions companies associated with former West Bengal Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee.

These companies connected to Chatterjee have been under scrutiny by ED officials for an extended period, following specific intelligence suggesting that these were essentially shell companies established to siphon off the illicit funds from the school job scandal.

The latest charge sheet reportedly also includes another prominent corporate entity tied to Sujay Krishna Bhadra, a key suspect in the school job scandal.

According to Tuesday's statement from the ED, the total value of assets seized and attached in connection with this case is approximately Rs 151.26 crore. This figure includes a cash seizure of over Rs 50 crore and gold recovered from the dual residences of Arpita Mukherjee, a close associate of Partha Chatterjee, in July 2022.

Following these recoveries, both individuals were taken into custody by ED officials.

Recently, Mukherjee was granted bail, while Chatterjee remains in judicial custody. Additionally, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is conducting a concurrent investigation into the school job scandal, has also confirmed Chatterjee's arrest in this case.