The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has announced the attachment of assets worth over Rs 15 crore in connection with the alleged West Bengal school teachers' recruitment scam. Expelled Trinamool Congress (TMC) youth wing leaders Kuntal Ghosh and Santanu Banerjee, along with another individual, are the main accused in the money laundering probe.
According to the ED, the attached assets include bank accounts, shares, mutual funds, residential flats, and land. These properties have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The total value of the attached assets is estimated to be Rs 15.03 crore.
The ED alleges that the accused individuals, Ghosh, Banerjee, and Ayan Sil, acted as agents in the illegal collection of money from aspiring candidates for primary teacher positions. Ayan Sil is said to be an associate of Santanu Banerjee.
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In addition to Ghosh and Banerjee, several other prominent figures have been arrested in the case. Former TMC leader and West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee, his alleged associate Arpita Mukherjee, TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya, and Sujay Krishna Bhadra, who is considered close to the TMC leadership, are among those detained. Partha Chatterjee has also been suspended by the TMC following his arrest by the ED.
Furthermore, two more accused, Souvik Bhattacharya and Satarupa Bhattacharya, have been sent to judicial custody by a special court in Kolkata after the ED filed a chargesheet against them.
The ED has filed a total of four charge sheets in the case so far, with the cumulative seizure and attachment of assets amounting to Rs 126.70 crore.
