With the dust barely settled on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the countdown to the 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls already underway, fresh developments in the school recruitment scam have reignited political tensions in the state. On Saturday morning, officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted a raid at the Naktala residence in south Kolkata of former state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee.
The central agency team, accompanied by a heavy deployment of central forces, reached the residence around 11:00 AM and swiftly cordoned off the premises. According to ED sources, the visit is part of an ongoing probe into alleged irregularities in the SSC recruitment process, with investigators aiming to directly confront the former minister over newly unearthed evidence.
Chatterjee, once a senior leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), had spent over three years in judicial custody before being granted bail on November 11, 2025. His close associate, Arpita Mukherjee, had also secured bail earlier. Despite their release, the investigation appears far from over.
Simultaneously, another ED team carried out a search operation at the New Town office of Prasanna Roy, a key accused in the case who is believed to have acted as a middleman in the alleged recruitment racket. Officials described the operation as part of a coordinated effort to trace financial transactions and uncover deeper links within the network.
Sources within the agency revealed that Chatterjee had been summoned multiple times to appear for questioning at the CGO Complex following his release. However, he reportedly avoided attending each time, citing health concerns. He had suggested that investigators could either question him via video conferencing or visit his residence instead.
Officials now appear to have acted on that suggestion—though not without signaling a tougher stance. With fresh documents and financial trails reportedly in hand, investigators are keen to probe alleged transactions involving crores of rupees and examine Chatterjee’s suspected connections with Roy more closely.
The renewed ED action, unfolding at a politically sensitive moment, has once again brought the recruitment scam to the forefront of West Bengal’s political discourse. As the state inches closer to the 2026 Assembly elections, the developments are expected to further intensify the ongoing political battle.
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