Kolkata: Former West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) chairman and current Trinamool MLA Manik Bhattacharya was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate after a marathon questioning session on monetary kickbacks allegedly received for recruitment in state-run primary schools.
Bhattacharya is the second Trinamool MLA to be detained in relation with the alleged scam. Former education minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in July, was the first. The MLA from Palashipara in Nadia was remanded in ED custody for 14 days by a PMLA court.
The ED, in its remand application to the court, referred to a letter seized from Bhattacharya’s residence, addressed to him and the Bengal chief minister. The ED counsel claimed that “The contents of the letter revealed that illegal amounts, to the tune of Rs 700,000 each, were taken from 44 candidates in lieu of offering them teaching jobs… The said amounts were collected by one general secretary of the Trinamool Youth Congress Committee.”
