ED probe in Bengal teachers scam leads to similar irregularities in ICDS recruitments

Kolkata, March 27 (IANS) As Enforcement Directorate (ED) is getting deeper into the probe in the multi-crore scam in recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in state-run schools of West Bengal, the investigating officials are tracking similar recruitment indiscretions in other government departments, including the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).

Incidentally, the same arrested Trinamool Congress- confidante real estate promoter Ayan Shil, who is currently in ED custody, has emerged at the centerstage of this multi- faceted recruitment scam.

Through examination of different documents seized from his residence, the central agency sleuths have come across crucial clues of Shil's involvement in the recruitment of individuals under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) attached to different village panchayats in Hooghly- district.

Sources said that the central agency sleuths have also procured documents showing Shil's involvement in the recruitment of panchayat assistants attached to the different tiers in the three- tier panchayat system of the same district.

Prima facie investigation, sources added, has revealed that this nexus in recruitment in the rural civic bodies in Hooghly district was run by Shil in close association with expelled youth Trinamool Congress leader Santanu Bandopadhyay, who was also an elected panchayat body member from the same district.

Bandopadhyay is currently in judicial custody because of his alleged involvement in the multi- crore scam in the recruitment of teaching and non- teaching staff. It is learnt that the counsel for the central agency will present to the court all the details of the relevant findings by the investigating officials in due course of hearings.

To recall, during the marathon raid and search operations at Shil's residence early this month, the ED sleuths had recovered incriminating documents about the involvement of the nexus in the recruitment of workers and clerks in different municipalities of the state. Now, a new dimension in the recruitment scam has evolved as the central agency sleuths have procured evidence about similar recruitment scams in rural civic bodies.

Disclaimer: This story has not been edited by the Sakshi Post team and is auto-generated from syndicated feed.