Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MLA Jiban Krishna Saha attempted to flee his house and threw his phone in a bush after Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers conducted raids at his house in Burwan of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on Monday in connection with a teachers’ recruitment scam.
However, the ED officers stopped him from escaping; they also recovered the mobile phone and seized it.
In 2023, the Trinamool MLA threw his two mobile phones in a pond to destroy evidence after Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers raided his house.
On Monday, the ED began another search operation across the state in the SSC recruitment case. Searches are underway in several districts, including Kolkata, since morning.
Several teams of ED have gone to Murshidabad and Birbhum districts. ED officials are at the house of Jiban Krishna Saha in Murshidabad district, who was at his home at the time of the raid.
The ED has also raided his in-laws’ house in Raghunathganj in the same district. In addition, the Central agency has raided the house of Trinamool councillor Maya Saha of ward number 9 in Sainthia of Birbhum district, who is an aunt of Trinamool MLA Saha.
According to ED sources, they have raided several places in Kolkata. Searches are being conducted in various areas related to the recruitment case.
The ED is accompanied by a team of Central security forces. Two vehicles reached Saha’s house in Burwan in the morning. One was carrying ED officials, and the other had central forces jawans. They surrounded the house, after which the five-member team of ED officials went inside the house.
Seeing the ED officials at his door, Saha attempted to flee from the back gate of his house. However, he was stopped by the jawans. In desperation, he threw his phone in a bush. Later, ED officials recovered the phone and seized it. They are presently questioning the MLA.
The Central forces have also been deployed in front of the house of the ruling party councillor Maya Saha in Sainthia. The security forces are guarding outside while ED officials have gone inside for a probe. However, they have not commented on why this raid was carried out and what the search is for.
Meanwhile, a search operation is going on at the house of Saha’s wife, Togor Saha, in Raghunathganj.
In addition to these raids, it is reported that a search operation is underway at the house of bank employee Rajesh Ghosh, a resident of Mahish village in Murshidabad district.
The CBI arrested Saha on April 17, 2023, in the SSC recruitment case. Before that, a search was conducted at his house. During the search, Jiban Krishna threw his two mobile phones into the pond to destroy evidence. After a long search, the water was drained, and mobile phones were recovered. After 13 months, Saha got bail from the Supreme Court.
The latest search operation is underway after ED officials got a fresh lead in the case.
(IANS)
