CBI Questions TMC Councillors In West Bengal Over Alleged Teacher Recruitment Irregularities

On Thursday, a team from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned Trinamool Congress (TMC) councillors regarding alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers in West Bengal's primary schools. The extensive questioning took several hours, and both councillors, Bappaditya Dasgupta and Debraj Chakraborty, left the CBI's office afterward.

The CBI had previously issued summons to Dasgupta and Chakraborty, asking them to appear for questioning under section 160 of the CrPC. Dasgupta, said to be closely associated with former education minister Partha Chatterjee, currently in jail since 2022, while Chakraborty reportedly has close ties with TMC general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee.

Chakraborty has been instructed to appear again before the CBI at 11 am on January 31. According to CBI sources, the agency detected several financial transactions in Chakraborty's bank statements during a raid in November 2023. Today's questioning focused on these transactions, with Chakraborty being asked to provide additional documents related to the suspicious transactions during his next appearance.

Following the questioning, Dasgupta stated to India Today TV that he fully cooperated with the investigation, addressing all questions raised by the CBI. Some questions related to the arrested Minister Partha Chatterjee were posed, and Dasgupta indicated his willingness to cooperate further if required.

In November of the previous year, the CBI had raided their homes, recovering various incriminating documents such as job aspirants' biodata, admit cards, bank statements, and income tax return files.