Kolkata: In a significant development in the multi-crore West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam, the CBI has accessed fresh audio-visual evidence that could unravel deeper layers of the alleged conspiracy.
While the CBI has remained tight-lipped about the precise contents of these recordings, sources familiar with the investigation said the material includes conversations that shed light on how the scam was orchestrated and personally overseen by former state Education Minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee.
The audio-visual content, according to sources, details how various stages of the recruitment fraud were planned and executed, implicating both senior officials of the WBSSC and representatives of NYSA, the private firm contracted to manage and preserve Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets for recruitment examinations.
In light of this new evidence, the CBI has approached a special court in Kolkata seeking permission to collect voice samples of five individuals named in the chargesheet. These samples will be used to verify whether the voices heard in the recordings match those of the suspects. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for June 12, when the court will decide whether to allow the agency to proceed.
Among the five individuals, three were formerly associated with the WBSSC, while the remaining two worked with NYSA. Investigators believe that the new material not only strengthens the case against Partha Chatterjee — already identified by both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as the principal architect of the scam — but also helps establish the operational nexus between key players in the commission and the private vendor.
On April 30, West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose granted prosecution sanction against both Partha Chatterjee and Manik Bhattacharya, a Trinamool MLA and former president of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE), in connection with the ED’s case.
While Bhattacharya is currently out on bail, Chatterjee remains behind bars as investigations continue to uncover the breadth of the alleged scam that rocked the state’s education recruitment system.
(IANS)
