(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted search operations across at least 11 locations in Kolkata, including a property belonging to West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose in connection with a jobs scam case.

The ED raids on Sujit Bose's property and other locations stem from alleged irregularities in the recruitment of candidates in the municipality.

The ED raids were conducted at the West Bengal minister's residence-cum-office in Salt Lake, and the houses of former officials of the Dum Dum Municipality, a senior official said.

The raids have been conducted since Friday morning based on certain inputs covering both the office, companies and residential premises of Sujit Bose .

The minister's office is located in a building in Sector 1, Salt Lake, where the searches have been underway for several hours now.

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ED had earlier conducted searches in this case on the residential premises of Bose and Rathin Ghosh, MLA and Minister of Food and Supplies, West Bengal.

According to a report by The Indian Express, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers have also visited a house in Central Kolkata's Thanthania. The current investigation is also linked to a separate bank fraud case.

West Bengal municipality recruitment scam

The West Bengal municipality recruitment sca first came into the spotlight when a case was initiated based on a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the CBI.

The CBI chargesheet, according to Indian Express, said that several candidates secured jobs at the municipality by paying agents an average sum of ₹50,000. The alleged corruption spans across 16 municipalities, including the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

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The Calcutta High Court had also directed the registration of the FIR on an application filed by ED, stating that“the recruitment scam is not only limited to the school teachers but also extends to recruitment of various posts in municipalities of West Bengal.”

The municipal recruitment scam came to light during the investigation into the West Bengal school jobs scam, when the ED recovered documents related to recruitment in municipalities from the premises of an accused, Ayan Sil. In April 2023, the Calcutta High Court directed the CBI to investigate irregularities in the recruitment process of municipalities.

Earlier in January, the ED conducted search operations for 14 hours at Sujit Bose's two houses and office in Lake Town, leading to the seizure of several documents and his mobile phone.

Both the ED and the CBI are investigating irregularities in the recruitment of staff in municipalities.

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