KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday summoned two Trinamool Congress ministers Sujit Bose and Rathin Ghosh in Mamata Banerjee cabinet in West Bengal in connection with municipal service recruitment scam ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the state.
On Monday, the ED had grilled a ruling party candidate Debashis Kumar from Rashbehari constituency in south Kolkata to probe his link with an alleged scam involving land procurement for projects and the subsequent duping of investors.
Kumar is a sitting MLA from the constituency. The ruling party has fielded Bose and Ghosh from Bidhannagar and Madhyam assembly seats respectively this time also.
ED’s summons to the two ministers and an MLA prompted Trinamool Congress leadership to come down heavily on their party leaders ahead of the assembly polls in 294 seats in Bengal.
“BJP is using the central investigating agency against our ministers and leaders before the upcoming polls in the state. It is a political vendetta of the BJP because they are using Election Commission of India and ED against us. But BJP can never come to power in Bengal by taking such sinister attempts,” Arup Chakraborty, Trinamool Congress spokesperson told the media on Friday.
ED sources said that Bose has been asked to come to the CGO Complex at Salt Lake on 6 April to appear before the investigating agency while Ghosh will have to face them on 9 April at the same venue.
Earlier in 2023 and 2025, the ED had carried out raids at the two ministers’ residences and offices. The Trinamool’s Rashbehari candidate Debasish Kumar was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday in connection with its probe into an alleged scam involving land procurement for projects and the subsequent duping of investors.
On Monday, Kumar had arrived at the CGO Complex and was questioned in two sessions. “I will not comment on this case,” he had told reporters outside.
Sources said officers probing the alleged fraud and money laundering, involving several hundred crores, wanted to question Kumar to explore his alleged links with a south Kolkata businessman. ED officials said Kumar’s name surfaced during the probe into the businessman’s alleged involvement in the projects.
The agency initiated a case of alleged fraud and money laundering after receiving multiple complaints, officials said. An Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered on the basis of these complaints, many of them from investors in Bengal districts.