Kolkata, Oct 2 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers, during their course of investigation in the multi-crore municipalities' recruitment case in West Bengal, has drawn out a rough estimate that around 1,500 individuals were recruited illegally between 2014 and 2018 against some financial considerations in different urban civic bodies in the state, an official said.
As per the central agency estimates, these 1,500 illegal recruitments were made in 15 municipalities scattered over districts like North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Nadia and Purulia.
All these illegal recruitments, said sources, were done through an outsourced agency ABS Infozone, owned by Ayan Sil, who is currently in judicial custody because of his alleged involvement in the multi-crore cash-for-school job scam case in West Bengal.
ED officers for the first time received clues about the multi-crore urban civic bodies' recruitment case, while conducting raid and search operations in March this year in connection with the school job scam case in West Bengal.
At that point of time, ED officers arrested Sil.
At present, sources added, the ED officers are investigating on the lines on whether there had been manipulation in the optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets in the recruitment examination for different posts in these urban civic bodies that are under scanner in the matter.
In the school job scam case too, the central agencies tracked how the manipulation of OMR sheets played a key role in recruitment irregularities.
The original order for the central agency probe in the municipalities' recruitment case was given by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court. However, later the matter was referred to the Court of Justice Sinha, who had also upheld the earlier order by Justice Gangopadhyay.
The state government challenged the order at the Supreme Court. However, recently the apex court, too, has upheld the Calcutta High Court orders and directed the central agencies to carry on with their investigation in the matter.
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