"Politically motivated, scripted by BJP": TMC as ED raids Bengal ministers

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], January 13 : After raids by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) at the premises of ruling TMC leaders and ministers Tapas Roy and Sujit Bose, the party's official spokesperson Kunal Ghosh launched a scathing attack of the BJP on Friday, calling the action unwarranted and 'politically motivated'.
Earlier in the day, ED teams raided West Bengal minister and TMC leader Sujit Bose's residence in Kolkata in connection with the alleged municipal job scam.
The central agency also raided the residence of senior TMC leader Tapas Roy on Friday.
"This action of the ED is politically motivated and scripted by the BJP. Sensing their defeat in the Lok Sabha elections in Bengal, they (BJP's state leaders) are sending lists (of TMC leaders) to Delhi and the central agencies are acting like BJP cadre and raiding our leaders," Ghosh told ANI on Friday.
The alleged irregularities in recruitments to the municipality came to the fore when the ED arrested Kolkata-based builder Ayan Sheel, on March 19, in connection with the primary school recruitment scam.
The ED claimed that OMR (answer) sheets of candidates for various posts in several municipalities were found at Ayan's Salt Lake office during a search.
Earlier, in August last year, the CBI summoned Bose for questioning as part of its ongoing probe into alleged irregularities in municipal appointments between 2014 and 2016.
The Calcutta High Court rejected the state government's petition seeking a stay on an earlier order, directing a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in municipal hirings.
The central agencies informed the high court that there were links between the civic body recruitment scam and the bribe-for-job scam in the West Bengal school education department. Former state Higher Education Minister and TMC heavyweight, Partha Chatterjee, was arrested in connection with the case.
He was subsequently removed from all the party posts he held and summarily expelled from the TMC.
Sujit Bose was vice chairman of South Dum Dum Municipality from 2010 to 2021, when nearly 250 people were recruited.
He is the first cabinet minister to be summoned in this case.
Meanwhile, BJP leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Friday took a swipe at the ministers who were raided, calling them 'theives'.
"They are thieves and, hence, their homes are being raided. Sujit Bose is involved in the (municipal job) recruitment scam. The people of Bengal, especially the youth, want these corrupt ministers to be sent behind bars," Adhikari told reporters on Friday.
Earlier this week, a bitter war of words erupted between the BJP and the TMC over the attack on an ED team in the North 24 Parganas district.
The ED team was carrying out raids at the residence of former Bongaon Municipality chairman Shankar Adhya and TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan's house in connection with the alleged ration scam case when its vehicles were vandalised and officials manhandled and heckled, according to an official.
Two ED officials, who were part of the raiding team, also sustained injuries in the incident.
The TMC, however, claimed that the locals responded to 'provocation'.
However, the BJP hit back, saying law and order had collapsed in the state.