The Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday conducted searches at 12 locations including the premises of West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim and Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra in connection with alleged irregularities in civic body recruitment in West Bengal, said the officials as per PTI. The Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minsters is also the mayor of Kolkata and a senior leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress. A team of the central probe agency reached Hakim's residence in south Kolkata's Chetla area along with a large contingent of central forces, according to a PTI report.
Two CBI officers questioned the minister, a senior official told PTI while Hakim's supporters gathered outside his house and staged a protest.
The development comes after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched multiple locations, including the residence of Food and Supplies Minister Rathin Ghosh, in connection with the case on Thursday.
A team of the federal pobe agency also reached the residence of Mitra in Bhabanipur area, 3 kilometres Hakim's residence in Chetla. Mitra is a TMC MLA from Kamarhati in North 24 Parganas district.
"CBI today conducted searches around 12 places, including at Kolkata, Kanchrapara, Barrackpore, Halisahar, Dumdum, North Dum Dum, Krishnanagar, Taki, Kamarhati, Chetla, Bhowanipore etc. at the premises of certain persons, including public servants in, an ongoing investigation of a case," a CBI spokesperson said, as per the PTI report.
The central investigating agencies have alleged that around 1,500 people were illegally recruited by different civic bodies in the state between 2014 and 2018 against monetary considerations.
The case was taken over by CBI on the orders of Calcutta High Court.
Both the TMC leaders were arrested by the federal probe agency in 2021 in the Narada sting operation case. Mitra was also arrested by the CBI in 2014 in the Saradha chit fund scam.
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