Cash-for-job scam: 1,829 illegal recruitments in 17 Bengal municipalities, says CBI

Kolkata, Jan 3

Investigation so far by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the cash-for-municipalities’ job case in West Bengal has revealed that there had been a total of 1,829 illegal recruitments against payment of money in 17 urban civic bodies in the state, sources said on Wednesday.

The central agency has also mentioned the figure in a confidential report submitted to the Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha.

As per the central agency sleuths all these recruitment were made through the outsourced agency owned by private promoter Ayan Sil, who is currently in judicial custody for his alleged involvement in both the cash-for-job cases for state-run schools and municipalities in West Bengal.

In fact, Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths, who are conducting a parallel probe along with CBI in both these cases, for the first time traced documents about recruitment irregularities in the municipalities while conducting raid and search operations in relation to the school job case Sil’s residence in March last year.

Meanwhile, as per estimates of the ED sleuths, whose probe is mainly circled around the money laundering angle in the case, estimated that the total fund involvement in municipalities’ recruitment irregularities is to the tune of around Rs 100 crore.

The ED sleuths, sources said, have reached this figure drawing a rough calculation that on an average an amount of Rs 5,00,000 was paid for each irregular recruitment in these urban civic bodies.

As per the findings of the ED sleuths so far the municipalities’ recruitment irregularities had been mainly for lower rank posts like drivers, clerks, lower grade computers operators and base-workers among others. As per the findings, the maximum number of irregular appointments had been detected in the case of municipalities in North 24 Parganas district.

The ED sleuths also to an extent have tracked the money-trail as regards the areas where the scam proceeds have been invested. As per ED’s findings the scam proceeds were mainly invested in the real estate sector in certain districts.