BIG BLOW to Mamata Banerjee, TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya arrested by ED in teachers’ recruitment scam

KOLKATA: In a big setback for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday formally arrested TMC MLA and former president of West Bengal Primary Education board Manik Bhattacharya in connection with teachers’ recruitment scam. Bhattacharya was arrested by the central agency after questioning him overnight in connection with the case.

He is the former chairman of the state primary education board and was removed from his post by the Calcutta High Court in June. He is the second high-profile TMC MLA to be arrested after Partha Chatterjee in connection with the teachers’ recruitment scam. The CBI had in August issued a lookout notice against Bhattacharya regarding his alleged role in anomalies found in Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) to appoint state primary teachers.

Soon after Bhattacharya’s name surfaced in the scam, the state police said that he will no longer be provided police security. The Calcutta High Court had earlier ordered the removal of Bhattacharya from the post of chairman of West Bengal Board of Primary Education over allegations of widespread corruption in the teachers’ recruitment.

Bhattacharya was then grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED has already arrested then Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and his close associate Arpita Mukherjee in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam. After the arrest of Chatterjee and Mukherjee, the ED also summoned Bhattacharya for interrogation.

The CBI has also arrested former West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) advisor Shanti Prasad Sinha, former WBSSC chairman Ashok Saha and former president of WBSSC Kalyanmoy Ganguly in connection with the scam.