School jobs scam: ED gets 2 days' custody of WB minister Partha Chatterjee

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Chatterjee, a senior Trinamool Congress leader, earlier in the day and produced him before a judge in the Bankshall court, who remanded him to 2 days of ED custody

A Kolkata court on Saturday remanded West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee to ED custody for two days in connection with the teacher recruitment scam, his counsel said.

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Chatterjee, a senior Trinamool Congress leader, earlier in the day and produced him before a judge in the Bankshall court, who remanded him to two days of ED custody.

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court did not hear the matter as it is Saturday.

He was arrested after around 26 hours of grilling at his residence.

The CBI, as directed by the Calcutta High Court, is looking into the alleged irregularities committed in the recruitment of Group-C and D staff as well as teachers in government-sponsored and aided schools on recommendations of the West Bengal School Service Commission. The ED is tracking the money trail in the scam.

The ED on Friday carried out simultaneous raids at the houses of around a dozen people, including two ministers, in connection with its investigation into the teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal and seized around Rs 20 crore in cash, said sources in the agency.