ED raids at Bengal minister's houses & office in municipalities recruitment case conclude (Ld)

Kolkata, Jan 12 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids and search operations for over 13 hours at the residence and offices of West Bengal Fire Services Minister Sujit Basu in connection with the municipalities recruitment scam case, an official said.

The ED sleuths left the minister's residence after accumulating many documents from two of his residences and one of his offices.

The raids and searches began at around 8 a.m. on Friday at Basu's residence in the Lake Town area.

The ED team and Central armed forces personnel escorting them left the raiding spots after 9 p.m.

Even as sources claimed that ED sleuths had collected several documents from the residences of the minister as well as from his office in the same locality, they refused to disclose the nature of the documents seized.

Sources, however, confirmed that the mobile phone of the minister was also seized by the ED.

Basu's role as the erstwhile deputy chairman of Dun Dum (South) municipality had been under the scanner of the central agency sleuths. Several recruitments were purportedly made against cash payments.

The raid was prompted by a code-word "SB" inscribed in the diary of one Ayan Sil, where details of the payments relating to such recruitment irregularities in several municipalities were written.

Speaking to the reporters after the raids ended, Basu told the mediapersons that "the unnecessary exercise had destabilised crucial schedules for the day".

"I challenge that if my involvement in the municipalities' recruitment case is proved, the next moment I will send my resignation to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. I will extend full cooperation to the central agencies in the matter," Basu said.