Explained: What is the West Bengal teacher recruitment scam

West Bengal
commerce and industries minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested Saturday by the
enforcement directorate after Rs 20 crore was recovered from the home of his
close aide Arpita Mukherjee. The teacher recruitment scam, or what in West
Bengal is referred to the SSC scam refers to irregularities in teacher
appointments when Partha Chatterjee was the education minister of West Bengal.

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Here’s what you
need to know about West Bengal teacher recruitment scam:

1.   
The
Enforcement Directorate (ED) that arrested Partha Chatterjee on Saturday
morning issued a statement claiming that the Rs 20 crore recovered from Arpita
Mukherjee is “suspected to be proceeds of the crime of the said SSC scam.”

2.   
The
SSC scam is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). While
the Enforcement Directorate is hunting down the money trail, the CBI is probing
the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of Group-C and Group-D staff and
teachers in state-sponsored and state-aided schools.

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3.   
The
“scam” is said to have been pulled off when Partha Chatterjee was the education
minister. Chatterjee was questioned by the CBI twice, once on April 26 and
another time on May 18.

4.   
The
Enforcement Directorate has previously raided properties of Minister of State
for Education Paresh Adhikari and MLA Manik Bhattacharya in connection with the
alleged scam.

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5.   
The
Trinamool Congress has called the investigation a “ploy” by the BJP government
at the Centre to “harass” its political opponents.  The BJP on says the CBI and ED are “progressing
on the right path”. They further said more skeletons will tumble out of the
cupboard.

Partha Chatterjee
was questioned through the night for 26 hours at a stretch till 07:30 am. The
ED has accused the minister of withholding information.