ED seizes assets worth Rs 163 cr in WBSSC recruitment 'scam' case – ThePrint

New Delhi, Oct 26 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday said it has seized assets worth over Rs 163 crore of the alleged “key middleman” and its affiliated entities in fresh action in a recruitment “scam” of Group C and Category D Staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).

The federal agency has earlier seized properties worth Rs 230.6 crore in connection with the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of assistant teachers and Rs 151 crore worth of assets in the primary teacher recruitment fraud in West Bengal. Both recruitments were done by the WBSSC.

The federal agency said in a statement that five hotels and resorts, 230 plots and 17 apartments and shops owned by Prasanna Kumar Roy, the “main intermediary” in these cases, his wife Kajal Soni Roy and a company controlled and operated by Roy called Shree Durga Dealcom Pvt. Ltd. have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The value of the attached properties is Rs 163.20 crore, the report said.

The attached assets include Chalankita Resort located at Shyampur in Howrah, Royal Bengal Resort in Sunderbans, Hotel Mili (Rubina) in Digha, Hotel Murti in Jalpaiguri and Bamboo Village Resort in Alipurduar.

The money laundering probe stems from a CBI FIR and charge sheets registered for the alleged “illegal appointment of Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ employees by offering appointment to unmeritorious, unlisted and under-ranked candidates, leaving the deserving and genuine candidates.” It is alleged that the appointments were made without maintaining fairness, in a criminal conspiracy by several persons and in disregard of relevant rules, the ED said.

The CBI chargesheets stated that a total of 3,432 (1,125 for Group ‘C’ and 2,307 for Group ‘D’) employees were ‘illegally’ appointed or recommended by the officials of WBSSC in a criminal conspiracy with others.

Roy and former WBSSC consultant Santi Prasad Sinha were arrested by the ED in the assistant teacher recruitment-related “scam”-related money laundering case and they are currently in judicial custody. PTI NES RT RT

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