Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordered the reconstitution of the special investigation team (SIT) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the multi-crore teachers’ recruitment irregularities scam in West Bengal.

Justice Gangopadhyay especially ordered the removal of KC Rishinamol, an officer of deputy superintendent rank and Imran Ashique, an officer of inspector rank from the SIT.

Advertisement

However, the other four members of the team including the SIT head and CBI superintendent, Dharamveer Singh, deputy superintendent Satyendra Singh, inspector Somnath Biswas and inspector Malay Das will continue.

Justice Gangopadhyay said that Rishinamol and Ashique would be replaced by four officers namely deputy superintendent Angshuman Saha, inspector Biswanath Chakraborty, inspector Pradip Tripathi and inspector Wasim Akram Khan.

He also ordered that the SIT will now work under the direct supervision of Akhilesh Singh, an officer in the rank of deputy inspector general of CBI.

When the CBI counsel informed the court that Akhilesh Singh is now currently posted in Delhi, Justice Gangopadhyay said that the agency should ask Singh to report to Kolkata within the next seven days and take charge of the SIT constituted for that purpose. Justice Gangopadhyay also ordered that till the investigation process in the matter will be over Singh would be neither transferred out of Kolkata nor given any other assignment.

He observed that the reconstitution and extension of the SIT had become imperative to bring speed in the investigation system which is at a slow pace at this moment.

He had also expressed dissatisfaction over the slow pace of probe.

On November 15 Justice Gangopadhyay observed that the SIT of CBI probing the teachers’; recruitment scam needs additional manpower for a speedy and judicious completion of its work.

“What I feel is that there are signals of more and bigger instances of corruption in the matter. In that case, the SIT of CBI would need additional manpower to probe the matter. I understand that the CBI is probing many other cases. So, if necessary, I will pass an order for increasing the manpower. Just yesterday I was at a social gathering, where several people asked me when the probe in the matter will be completed,” Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay said on November 14.