Teacher recruitment scam: Sujay Krishna Bhadra remanded to 14-day ED custody

Teacher recruitment scam: Sujay Krishna Bhadra remanded to 14-day ED custodyMay 31, 2023Kolkata, May 31 (IANS) Trinamool Congress confidant Sujay Krishna Bhadra a.k.a. ‘Kalighater Kaku’ (Uncle of Kalighat), who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the alleged multi-crore teacher recruitment scam on Tuesday night, was remanded to 14-day ED custody by a special PMLA court here on Wednesday.The ED counsel made some serious revelations in the court on Wednesday, claiming that another accused and expelled youth Trinamool leader Kuntal Ghosh gave Rs 70 lakh to Bhadra as collection money for the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014. Out of that amount, Rs 10 lakh was given by Ghosh to former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee following an instruction from Bhadra, the ED counsel claimed. Both Partha Chatterjee and Kuntal Ghosh are currently in judicial custody for their alleged involvement in the case.The ED counsel also claimed that Bhadra had a close nexus with Trinamool legislator and former Chairman of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE), Manik Bhattacharya, who is also in judicial custody now along with his wife and son in connection with the same case. The central agency claimed that the investigating officers have recovered several WhatsApp chats establishing links between Bhadra and Bhattacharya.The ED counsel also referred to Rahul Bera, a civic volunteer, who was allegedly instructed by Bhadra to delete all the electronic data related to the case. ED sources said that Bera will soon be summoned to the agency office, where he will be questioned together with Bhadra. The sources also claimed that four types of electronic data — mobile data, system acquisition, physical acquisition and file acquisition — were deleted which were later retrieved by the ED.After hearing the arguments, the judge remanded Bhadra to ED custody till June 14.–IANSsrc/arm