Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided the residence of West Bengal Food and Supplies Minister Rathin Ghosh and a dozen other places in relation to the alleged cash-for-job scam in civic bodies across the state, official sources confirmed.
Teams of ED officials fanned out at different places, including the North 24 Parganas district around 6 a.m. and began raiding the houses and offices of the alleged accused officials, with the support of central armed forces.
The sources said the central probe agency searched at least 13 places, including the minister’s home at Michael Nagar in North 24 Parganas district.
This is the first time that the ED officials have begun raiding any minister’s house in relation to the alleged scandal.
Sources said the ED officials reached Ghosh’s residence at 6 am and they were still there at the time of filing the report. Ghosh is a former chairperson of the Madhyamgram municipality.
He is presently the TMC MLA representing the Madhyamgram Assembly constituency.
The ED also raided the house of Kamarhati municipality chairperson Gopal Saha in NORTH 24 Parganas district.
It was alleged that over a thousand people were allegedly given jobs in various civic bodies during 2014-18 against cash.
Sources claimed while probing the allegation related to the job scam in the different municipalities, ED sleuths seized incriminating documents from the office of Ayan Sil’s ABS Infozone and stumbled upon the name of the minister.
