Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted searches across eight premises linked to former minister and Trinamool Congress leader Madan Mitra, including his residence at Bhowanipore and his home and office in Kamarhati and Dakshineswar. According to ED sources, the searches are connected to alleged irregularities in municipal recruitments.
Details of the Searches
On Saturday morning, a team of ED officers reached Mitra's residences and office in Bhowanipore, as well as locations in Kamarhati, Dakshineswar, Beleghata, Joka, and Behala. Officials are investigating not only recruitment-related activities in Kamarhati Municipality but also alleged irregularities in other civic bodies.
According to ED sources, Mitra is under scrutiny for his alleged role in facilitating illegal appointments in several municipalities. Investigators suspect that more than 125 irregular recruitments may have been carried out with his influence. The agency is examining whether he used his political clout, particularly in Kamarhati and other municipalities, to secure jobs for ineligible candidates.
Origin of the Investigation
Mitra's role came under the lens after the ED started questioning him based on clues found in a diary of Beleghata businessman Ayan Sil. The municipal recruitment scam surfaced during the CBI's probe into the school recruitment scam. Sil, who was arrested in that case, allegedly provided leads that exposed large-scale irregularities in municipal appointments. The CBI recovered OMR sheets and other recruitment-related documents from Sil's Salt Lake office, indicating that jobs were allegedly sold in exchange for bribes while deserving candidates were denied employment.
Local Reactions
Madan Mitra's Bhowanipore neighbours, while taking a morning stroll on Dhirendranath Ghosh Road, were taken aback on Saturday as they found central forces and ED officers marching into the TMC MLA's house. According to locals, the agency knocked on Mitra's doors for a raid around 6 am.
“We don't know what the ED officials were doing inside, but all of us were surprised with the sudden raid on his house. Most of us have a good relation with Mitra, whom we call dada, so we stood outside his house for a while in the morning when the raid was on,” said Arun Ghosh, a local.
At Dakshineswar, the caretaker of the complex said he saw officers exit Mitra's flat number 5 on the fifth floor of the Holy Nest residential complex at 7 T N Biswas Road with several documents.
“Dada (Madan Mitra) called me in the morning and asked me to open the flat as ED officials had arrived. The officers then conducted a search at his apartment for nearly 11 hours and left around 5 pm. They took away some documents, but I cannot say what those papers were related to,” said the residential complex's caretaker, Sitaram Pahari.
Political Response
Trinamool Congress, meanwhile, pointed out that the ED's action comes a day after Mitra publicly protested the alleged harassment of Kamarhati Municipality chairman Gopal Saha and directed all councillors to resign in protest. He vowed to restore the Trinamool Congress's control over the civic body in the next municipal election.
