New Delhi: Bank and fixed deposits worth Rs 7.93 crore of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Manik Bhattacharya and his family have been attached under the anti-money laundering law in connection with the West Bengal teachers recruitment ‘scam’, the Enforcement Directorate said Thursday.
“Sixty-one bank accounts were kept in the name of friends and relatives of Manik Bhattacharya who were induced by him and his family members to open the same to avoid detection by law enforcement authorities,” the ED said in a statement.
“One such account used for money laundering activities was found existing in the name of Satarupa Bhattacharya, wife of Manik Bhattacharya, and late Mrityunjay Chatterjee who had passed away in 2016,” it said.
Bhattacharya, former president of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, was arrested by the ED in October in the alleged teachers recruitment scam of West Bengal.
The MLA from Palashipara seat in Nadia district is in judicial custody at present.
The ED is tracking the money trail in the scam, while the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is looking into the alleged irregularities committed in the recruitment.
It is alleged that several people who fared poorly in the recruitment examinations were hired as teachers in exchange for lakhs of rupees while the eligible candidates were overlooked.
In July, the ED had arrested former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee in the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam.
