Kolkata: Sujit Bose, former minister in the previous Trinamool Congress-ruled and Mamata Banerjee-led cabinet, was arrested by the officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday night in connection with the multi-crore municipalities’ job case in West Bengal during the previous regime.
Bose appeared at the ED’s Salt Lake office on the northern outskirts of Kolkata earlier in the day for questioning in the matter, and after a marathon investigation for almost 11 hours, he was finally arrested by the central investigation agency sleuths.
He was defeated this time from his native Bidhannagar Assembly constituency in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly polls.
Bose arrived at the ED’s CGO Complex office at Salt Lake with his son, Samudra Bose, who was also summoned in the same case, at around 10.30 a.m.
Earlier, the Trinamool Congress leader appeared at the ED office on May 1 and May 4. But on both occasions, the ED officials allowed him to go at the end of the marathon interrogation.
Finally, the former minister, who is not even a legislator now, was arrested in that case on Monday.
Earlier, ED officials, accompanied by central forces, conducted searches at several locations linked to Bose, including his residence, office and his son’s restaurant near VIP Road.
Bose had previously criticised the ED’s actions during the election period and alleged that the investigation was politically motivated.
Speaking to the media earlier, he had said, “Sujit Bose’s condition is not so bad that he has to sell jobs to earn money. People know that. This is a conspiracy by the Election Commission and the ED.”
Enforcement Directorate officials had first received information about the multi-crore municipalities’ job case while conducting raids and search operations at the residence of Trinamool Congress-linked promoter Ayan Shil in connection with another money laundering case related to the cash-for-school jobs scam in West Bengal.
Later, the Central Bureau of Investigation had also started a parallel probe into the municipalities’ job case following an order of the Calcutta High Court.
As officials of the two central agencies progressed further with the investigation process, the names of several politically influential persons, including state ministers as well as ruling party leaders, surfaced during the probe.
(IANS)
