The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday conducted raids at multiple locations in West Bengal in connection with its probe into alleged irregularities in recruitment in civic bodies, an official said.

Sleuths of the central agency started search operations this morning in 14 municipalities, including South Dum Dum, Panihati, Kanchrapara, Chinsurah and Dum Dum.

The CBI teams also raided the office of the state urban development department in the Salt Lake area, he said.

According to the official, allegations of cash-for-jobs had surfaced over appointments of personnel in these civic bodies for which the search operations were taking place.

Reacting to the CBI raids, state Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said this is “part of a conspiracy” hatched by the BJP.

"There are reasons to believe that it is an act of revenge by the BJP which has been using central agencies against its political opponents. We have nothing against fair investigations but we believe that such raids are part of a conspiracy. We want the truth to come out," he told reporters.

BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya claimed that the CBI is investigating the alleged job scam in municipalities on the direction of the Calcutta High Court, and thus, the TMC's claim about conspiracy is “baseless”.

“Hakim is aware of the fact that sections of TMC workers are disgruntled for not getting jobs in local civic bodies and they are happy with the court's order and CBI searches."

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