ED grills former Bengal minister in teacher recruitment scam

Sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday interrogated former West Bengal minister Paresh Adhikari in connection with a teacher recruitment scam.

Adhikari, who had been earlier been grilled by the CBI in the same case, arrived at the CGO complex of the ED office here in the morning to face questioning, sources in the agency said.

The former minister of state for education is facing allegations of adopting illegal means to get her daughter Ankita appointed as a teacher in a state-run school in Cooch Behar district.

The Calcutta High Court had earlier this year dismissed Ankita from job and asked her to return the salary she had drawn as a teacher since 2018. In August, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during a cabinet reshuffle, had dropped Adhikari from her ministry.

Both the CBI and the ED are currently investigating the multi-crore recruitment scam involving the West Bengal School Service Commission, on an order of the Calcutta High Court.