West Bengal: CBI arrests 6 people in connection to school jobs scam

KOLKATA: The CBI has arrested six people in connection with its investigation into alleged irregularities in recruitments made by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC), a senior official said.

Those arrested were allegedly working as agents, collecting money from candidates and facilitating their employment in various schools across the state, he said. "We have got specific evidence against them," the CBI official said on Friday evening. Several people have been arrested by the agency in connection with the “irregularities”, including former education minister Partha Chatterjee.

Also Read | West Bengal education board submits to HC names of teachers terminated due to 'irregularities'

The Calcutta High Court had last week directed the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education to cancel jobs of 1,911 ‘Group D’ employees, who were given appointment in state government-sponsored and -aided schools illegally, following manipulation of recruitment examination results.

The CBI as well as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigating alleged money trail in the case, have made several arrests in connection with irregularities in appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff in government-sponsored and -aided schools, including former minister Partha Chatterjee and past key functionaries of the commission.