Separate teams of Enforcement Directorate officers on Thursday conducted search and seizure operations in at least six addresses linked to those who allegedly acted as “middlemen” in the alleged irregularities in school recruitments.
Early in the morning, teams arrived at premises linked to Prasanna Roy in parts of New Town looking for documents and details of his business transactions.
The CBI, which is also probing the irregularities, had arrested Roy in August 2022 for his alleged role as a link between prospective candidates and Partha Chatterjee, former education minister who is now in jail custody.
In November 2023, the Supreme Court had granted bail to Roy. The apex court granted bail on grounds that despite the CBI filing chargesheets in two cases he was accused in, cognizance of the charges had not been taken by the trial court leaving little chance of commencement of trial in the near future.
Senior ED officials said Roy is believed to own several hotels and more than one property. Out on bail, he was trying to sell off some of his assets, they alleged.
While separate teams visited his office and a hotel in New Town, another questioned Roy at his home for several hours.
“Details of Roy’s growth as a businessman in a short span is particularly important against the backdrop of allegations that he used to collect money from prospective candidates in the districts and hand it over to key functionaries engaged in the recruitment of assistant teachers and non-teaching staff,” said an ED officer.
The central agency, probing the money trail in the case on irregularities, also went to the Salt Lake residence of Pradip Jha, accused of allegedly contacting prospective candidates, collecting money from them and handing it to Shanti Prasad Sinha, former chief advisor to West Bengal School Service Commission. Sinha is also in jail custody now.
The CBI had arrested Jha, who worked for a travel agency owned by Roy, in August 2022. The CBI had said that Jha’s mobile number was found saved on Sinha’s phone. Earlier this month, Calcutta High Court granted Jha bail.
Another ED team went to the residence of Ranit Jha, a businessman dealing with transport and allegedly a close acquaintance of Roy, in Nayabad on the city’s southern fringe.
Senior ED officers said they wanted to check the details of Ranit Jha’s business transactions and his balance sheet for the last few years before questioning him on the pace of the growth of his business.