The arrested agent who allegedly got people school jobs for money had links with several members of the advisory committee of the school service commission, senior officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Saturday.
The former head of the advisory committee, Shanti Prasad Sinha, is also in custody in connection with the alleged corruption in school recruitment.
Chandan Mandal, who is a para teacher in a government-run school near his home in Bagda, North 24-Parganas, was arrested on Friday along with five others for their alleged involvement in the irregularities in appointments in state-run schools.
The S.P. Sinha-led committee would allegedly recommend the names sent by Mandal. Letters bearing the digital signature of Subires Bhattacharyya, former chairman of the School Service Commission now in custody, would be forwarded for final selection, CBI officers said. A final list with names of the candidates that Mandal sent to the advisory committee would be finally published with the signature of Kalyanmoy Ganguly, who was the president of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, the CBI officers said. Ganguly has also been arrested.
In its first charge sheet, the CBI accused former education minister, now arrested, Partha Chatterjee along with Sinha, Ganguly and 13 others of forgery, cheating, causing disappearance of evidence and criminal conspiracy in the case under investigation.
“Chandan Mandal’s network was spread across districts and it appears he succeeded in offering jobs to hundreds of candidates against payment,” said a senior CBI officer. “There have been instances when he has also returned the money to those who could not make it to the final selection list.”
Mandal’s name emerged as a suspect in the alleged corruption in school recruitments two years ago, when the former minister and retired IPS officer Upen Biswas spoke of his alleged role and introduced him as “Shat Ranjan” (honest Ranjan) in a social media post.
Mandal’s lawyer denied the charges saying Biswas has framed him. He said Mandal had faced the CBI every time he has been summoned.
After questioning six arrested “middlemen”, CBI officers said Ranjan and his team had their fingers in different recruitments including those applying for posts in primary and upper primary levels. The amount collected would vary between Rs 10 and Rs 15 lakh for candidates in the primary school and up to Rs 20 lakhs for candidates appearing for posts in upper primary schools, officers said.
“We are trying to reach Chandan’s alleged links at the top level,” an officer said.
