School job irregularities: CBI issues lookout notice against TMC MLA

KOLKATA: The CBI on Thursday issued a lookout notice for TMC MLA and former chairman of West Bengal Board of Primary Education Manik Bhattacharya in connection with its probe into alleged irregularities in primary teachers' appointment after he was not found at his residences in Kolkata and Nadia, an official of the agency said.

Bhattacharya, who is a lawmaker from Palashipara in Nadia district, had earlier been interrogated by Enforcement Directorate, which is tracking the money trail in the case. "The MLA could not be found at his residences in Jadavpur and Nadia district over the past several days, following which he was served a lookout notice by the central agency," the official told PTI. Meanwhile, a suspected middleman, arrested on charges of facilitating jobs to ineligible candidates in state government-sponsored and -aided schools in exchange of money, was remanded in CBI custody till September 1 by a special CBI court.

Several documents were also seized from Pradip Singh’s Salt Lake residence, raided by agency sleuths on Wednesday night. "We are checking his antecedents and his exact role in the racket," the CBI official added. The agency had earlier this month put behind bars former School Service Commission (SSC) adviser Dr Shanti Prasad Sinha and its ex-secretary Ashok Kumar Saha in connection with the irregularities.

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In July, the Enforcement Directorate arrested former education minister Partha Chatterjee and his associate Arpita Mukherjee during its probe into the money trail connected with the scam. The CBI had on Wednesday also raided the office of North Bengal University (NBU) Vice-Chancellor Subires Bhattacharyya in Siliguri in connection with its probe into the scam, and sealed his apartment in Kolkata. Bhattacharyya was SSC chairman between 2014 and 2018.