TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, has been called by the CBI to appear at its Kolkata office on Saturday as part of the probe it is conducting into the school jobs scam.
According to TMC officials, the party's national general secretary has decided to return to the city, temporarily suspending his ongoing mass outreach campaign for a day or two. "I am returning to Kolkata tonight, as there has been a development," Abhishek Banerjee told reporters.
Officials said Banerjee had been sent a missive asking him to join the probe at its offices at Nizam Palace. Earlier, on Thursday, Calcutta High Court had dismissed a petition filed by Banerjee seeking recall of a previous order of the court which said that investigative agencies such as CBI and ED could interrogate him in the teacher recruitment scam.
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"Despite not being given even a day’s prior notice, I will still abide by the summon. I will give my full cooperation during the course of the investigation," the TMC leader said in a tweet.
The TMC leader's name cropped up in a complaint filed by Kuntal Ghosh, an accused in the scam, who alleged that he was being pressured by central investigating agencies to name Abhishek Banerjee in the recruitment case.
The CBI last year filed its first charge sheet in Kolkata’s Alipore court in connection with the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam.
The charge sheet named 16 accused including arrested ex-education minister Partha Chatterjee and former SSC advisor Shanti Prasad Sinha, a CBI official said.
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The investigating agency, on the direction of the Calcutta High Court, is probing alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in upper primary and secondary schools in the state.
The alleged irregularities took place when Chatterjee was the education minister.
Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the last week of July when he was the state’s industry and commerce minister. Following the arrest, he was stripped of his portfolios. The ruling Trinamool Congress also suspended him. The CBI arrested Sinha in August.
(With inputs from PTI)
