The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday served a notice to the Jhalda Municipality in Purulia district seeking details of the recruitment from January 1, 2014 till date in connection with the multi-crore municipalities recruitment case in West Bengal.
Confirming the receipt of the ED notice, Jhalda Municipality chairperson Sheela Chattopadhyay said that the central agency has given them seven days to reply. "We will surely reply to the notice from ED within that period," she said.
Incidentally, the notice to Jhalda Municipality from ED comes just days after Trinamool Congress took control of the municipality board from Congress, after two Congress councilors and one independent councilor shifted to the ruling party's camp.
ED sources said that this is the first time any municipality from a district apart from Hooghly, North 24 Parganas, Nadia and South 24 Parganas came under its scanner.
The order for the CBI and ED probe in the case was given by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court. However, later the matter was referred to the court of Justice Amrita Sinha, who had also upheld Justice Gangopadhyay's order.
The state government moved the Supreme Court challenging the order. However, recently the apex court too has upheld the Calcutta High Court's order and directed the central agencies to carry on with their investigation into the matter.
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