Kolkata, Aug 25: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Trinamool Congress MLA Jiban Krishna Saha after conducting a raid at his house in Burwan of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district in connection with the SSC recruitment corruption case.
The arrest was made after the ED conducted a raid for over five hours. Initially, the MLA tried to flee his house by scaling the boundary wall and threw his mobile phone in a bush to destroy evidence.
However, he was caught by the Central security forces jawans who were guarding his house. The ED officials also recovered the mobile phone and questioned him at his residence.
Sources said there were discrepancies in his statement, and he also hid the fact that he uses not one but two mobile phones. He had thrown one in the bush but forgot to switch it off. The ED sleuths called that mobile phone and traced it in the bush adjacent to a pond.
ED sources said Saha is being brought to Kolkata from Murshidabad district and will be produced at the Bankshall court, where the Central government agency will seek his custody.
It may be noted that the Trinamool MLA was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2023 in the SSC recruitment corruption case. Before that, a search was conducted at his house. During the CBI raid, Saha threw his two mobile phones into the pond to destroy evidence.
The water of the pond was ultimately drained, and the mobile phones were recovered. After 13 months, he secured bail from the Supreme Court. While the CBI is probing the corruption angle of the SCC recruitment case, the ED is probing the money trail regarding financial irregularities.
On Monday, the ED held search operations across the state in the SSC recruitment case. Searches were conducted in several districts, including Kolkata, since morning. Several teams of ED were in Murshidabad and Birbhum districts. The officials were at the house of Saha in Murshidabad district.
ED has also raided his in-laws’ house in Raghunathganj in the same district. In addition, the agency raided the house of Trinamool councillor Maya Saha of ward number 9 in Sainthia of Birbhum district, who is an aunt of the Trinamool MLA. According to ED sources, they have raided several places in Kolkata also.
Searches are being conducted in various areas related to the recruitment case. A search was also conducted at a house owned by Saha’s wife, Togor Sah, in Raghunathganj. It is reported that a search operation was also carried out at the house of bank employee Rajesh Ghosh, a resident of Mahish village in Murshidabad district.
The latest search operation was conducted following fresh leads in the case after the ED recently raided four locations in Kolkata. The locations were related to Prasanna Roy, who was allegedly involved in irregularities in recruitment in the School Service Commission selection tests in 2016 and acted as a middleman.
IANS