A court in West Medinipur has reportedly issued an arrest warrant against Sumit Roy, personal assistant to TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, in connection with the West Bengal teachers' recruitment scam, where Banerjee himself was recently questioned by the ED.
A court in West Medinipur district has reportedly issued an arrest warrant against Sumit Roy, personal assistant to TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, said police sources.
Abhishek Banerjee Questioned in Scam Probe
Earlier, Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday reached the office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the alleged multi-crore Primary Teachers Recruitment scam in West Bengal.
Earlier this month, Banerjee was summoned and asked to appear before the central agency to join the ongoing investigation. The summons is part of the ED's probe into alleged irregularities in the recruitment process of primary teachers, which has been under scrutiny for suspected financial misconduct and procedural violations.
Background of the Investigation
The move comes five months after ED's Kolkata zonal office in January this year attached immovable properties having a total value of approximately Rs 57.78 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (SSC) Assistant Teacher Recruitment Scam (Classes IX to XII).
On July 23, 2022, the ED had arrested former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee after cash worth over Rs 50 crore and gold iewellery worth Rs 4.5 crore was recovered from the residence of his close aide Arpita Mukherjee during raids linked to the cash-for-jobs scam, in which thousands of unqualified candidates were "illegally appointed to teaching and non-teaching positions across State-run and State- aided schools in West Bengal" instead of extraneous consideration.
"In the Primary Teachers Recruitment Scam in West Bengal, ED has already attached and seized properties worth Rs 154 crore. The Supreme Court, in its judgment dated April 3, 2025, had quashed the appointments of more than 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff, holding the entire recruitment process to be vitiated and tainted. The ED had filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) for offences registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Meanwhile, the CBI had registered a case under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including the Prevention of Corruption Act. (ANI)
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