WB Teachers' Scam: After 40 Hours of Search Operation, ED Arrests Promoter Ayan Shil

Kolkata, March 20 (IANS) After around 40 hours of marathon raid and search operations, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has finally arrested private real-estate promoter Ayan Shil in connection with the multi-crore scam in recruitment of teachers and non- teaching staff in state-run schools.

The raids started on Saturday evening (March 18) and continued till early Monday morning.

Shil was officially arrested by the ED at around 6.30 a.m. on Monday after the investigation officers seized a number of incriminating documents from his residence, which include around 400 optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets used in the recruitment examination of West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).

Sources said that during the marathon raid and search operations, the ED sleuths have also traced fictitious transactions to the tune of around Rs 50 crore from the account of Shil, who is known to be an extremely close confidante of expelled youth Trinamool Congress leader, Santanu Bandopadhyay.

Bandopadhyay is currently in ED custody because of his alleged involvement in the multi-crore recruitment scam.

Besides conducting the raid and search operations and questioning Shil, the investigating officials also interrogated his parents.

Sources said that the probe official secured business documents that contained the signature of the real estate promoter's father Sadananda Shil. However, the latter has told the ED officials that he just signed documents as told by his son without having any knowledge of what these documents were about.

"Some documents seized by our sleuths have indicated that Shil had been also showing interests in film financing and also had done some initial investment on this count," an ED associate said.

Already, the ED counsel has informed a special court of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Kolkata that a major part of the crime proceeds collected by other expelled and arrested youth Trinamool Congress leader Kuntal Ghosh has been invested in the business of film financing. The ED counsel has also claimed that on this count Ghosh also gave advance to a number of Tollywood actors and actresses.

It is learnt that the ED will present Shil at the same special court of PMLA in Kolkata on Monday afternoon and there the central agency's counsel will seek his custody.

"Since Bandyopadhyay is also in our custody now, we will get a chance to interrogate the two together," the ED associate said.