ED tracks candidates who paid TMC MLA but failed to get jobs

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the multi-crore cash-for-school-job scam in West Bengal has identified several candidates who allegedly paid huge sums to arrested Trinamool Congress legislator Jiban Krishna Saha but never received the promised jobs.

Sources aware of the development said that during the last few months before his arrest by ED officials on August 25, such candidates had been putting pressure on Saha to return the money.

From one of the two mobile phones of Saha, seized during his arrest on June 25, an audio clip surfaced, in which one such candidate asked him to return money that he received against a job promise that was not fulfilled. As per the conversation, that particular candidate, whose voice was heard in the audio clip, reportedly paid Rs 12 lakh to Saha for a school job.

ED officials started an investigation into the matter and tracked some other candidates who also were not able to get school jobs despite paying similar or even higher amounts to Saha. The central agency officials have now decided to question such candidates to get further information from them.

To recall, while the ED officials went to arrest Saha at his residence on August 25, the latter wanted to destroy both his mobile phones after throwing them at a pond adjacent to his residence. However, he was unsuccessful in his attempt, and ultimately, both his mobile phones were seized.

These are in addition to the 75 names who got jobs despite being on the expired panel after paying huge cash to Saha. ED officials have already started the process of interrogating them in phases.

Saha, the TMC MLA from Burwan constituency, is currently in judicial custody. He was earlier arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is also conducting a parallel probe into the school jobs scam.