Teachers' scam: ED submits in court details of proceeds received by Kuntal Ghosh

Kolkata, March 3 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday submitted to a special PMLA court the details on the proceeds of the multi-crore teachers' recruitment scam in West Bengal received by an arrested youth Trinamool Congress leader Kuntal Ghosh.

The ED has also informed the court of the details of the portion of the scam proceeds of Ghosh that he had forwarded to former West Bengal education minister and ex-Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee, who is currently in the judicial custody for his alleged involvement in the scam.

The ED told the court that these details have been available after examining Ghosh's bank accounts and other related documents in connection with the scam.

"ED sleuths have questioned 10 individuals who acted as agents in collecting scam proceeds on behalf of Kuntal Ghosh. These 10 individuals have informed the investigating officers that they collected a total amount of Rs 16 crore from a total of 200 candidates for providing them teaching jobs in the state-run schools. Each candidate paid Rs 6 lakh," the ED counsel told the court on Friday.

He also said that from checking the bank accounts of Ghosh, the ED sleuths have come to know that he had transferred a "massive amount" in different phases to a particular woman since 2020.

"The investigating officers have summoned the woman for questioning," the ED counsel said.

He also said that Kuntal Ghosh, besides collecting money for primary teachers' aspirants, also collected money from those willing to join state-run schools as secondary teachers.

"He also collected money from private teacher's training colleges," the ED counsel added.