Kolkata, Feb 14 (NationPress) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials probing the cash-for-school-jobs scandal in West Bengal have obtained a new roster of candidates whose names were put forward for various roles by several prominent figures from the state.

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that during the search operations conducted last year at the state education department headquarters in Salt Lake, located on the northern outskirts of Kolkata, the agency uncovered the names of 324 candidates whose applications for school positions were endorsed by various high-profile entities within the state.

This list, as per sources, includes the names of the individuals who recommended these 324 candidates, and it has also been submitted to the former state education minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee, who was apprehended in July 2022 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in relation to the school job scandal.

Among the notable individuals listed as endorsing these candidates are former Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member from the Bangaon constituency in North 24 Parganas, along with the current party Rajya Sabha member Mamata Bala Thakur, and the current ruling party legislator from the Canning (East) Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas, Saokat Molla.

The list also includes the name of former Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member from the Tamluk constituency in East Midnapore, Dibyendu Adhikari, who is noted for recommending candidates for school jobs.

Dibyendu Adhikari is the younger sibling of the opposition leader in the West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari. Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he defected to the BJP and is currently not holding any parliamentary or legislative position.

Another prominent figure on the list is the retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Bharati Ghosh, who resigned from her police duties in 2019 to join the BJP. She, too, is currently not in any parliamentary or legislative role.