WBSSC scam: Bank accounts of arrested Trinamool MLA's close relatives under ED scanner

Kolkata, Sep 1 (IANS) The bank accounts, assets, and properties of the close relatives of Jiban Krishna Saha, who was arrested recently, are under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in connection with the multi-crore cash for school-job case in West Bengal.

Saha, the Trinamool Congress legislator from Burwan Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district, was arrested on August 25 in connection with the school-job case by the ED.

Agency insiders aware of the development said the bank accounts of these close relatives of Saha, including his parents and wife, will be put under “forensic analysis and financial scrutiny” to ascertain an estimated amount of the proceeds of the school-job scam diverted to these accounts.

The assets of properties of these close relatives are under the scanner to ascertain whether there is any angle of “assets disproportionate to income” in such cases.

Saha, on Saturday, was sent to judicial custody for 12 days by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, officials said.

The MLA, who was arrested by the ED officials in connection with the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment case, was earlier arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the same matter, which is conducting a parallel probe in the case.

Sources said the main allegation against Saha is that he ensured the securing of jobs for some people even after the recruitment panel expired, as he had taken advance money from job seekers.

His main aide in the matter was the then top official of WBSSC, Santi Prasad Sinha, to whom Saha recommended the names of 75 such ineligible candidates for illegal recruitment.

Sources aware of the development said that each such ineligible candidate paid Rs 7 lakh for getting the job illegally, with one particular middleman being responsible for carrying out this entire transaction process.

On August 25, the ED arrested the MLA from his house in Burwan in West Bengal's Murshidabad district.

The MLA then tried to flee his house by scaling a boundary wall and also threw one of his two mobile phones in a bush.

However, he was stopped from escaping by the ED officials, who also recovered the mobile phone.

After he failed to answer the queries of the ED officials regarding lakhs of rupees found in the bank accounts of his relatives, the MLA was arrested by the central investigation agency.

--IANS

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