Ateam of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the alleged irregularities in the municipal recruitment process in West Bengal raided the house of Rathin Ghosh, food minister in Mamata Banerjee cabinet on Thursday.

The raids coincided with a CPM organized ‘march to CGO Complex’ in protest against the central investigating agencies’ (ED, CBI) delay in ongoing investigations in different scams, including the school teachers’ recruitment scam in the state. The 10-member central investigating team along with armed CRPF jawans raided the Michaelnagar residence in North 24-Parganas district early this morning around 6am.

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Mr Ghosh was there when the ED reached there. The raid is still on till 5pm even after 11 hours. Apart from the raid at the food minister’s residence, ED officials in separate groups also raided houses of chairmen of different municipal bodies in Kamarhati, Titagarh, Baranagar, South Dum Dum etc at the same time in North 24- Parganas to probe the municipal recruitment scam.

Earlier, Mr Ghosh was the chairman of the Madhyamgram Municipality in the district for four years from 2014. ED investigators verified various documents, including passbooks of banks where Mr Ghosh and his family members have savings and other FD accounts. It has also seized several mobiles during the raid, it’s learnt. With the directives of the Calcutta High Court, ED started the inquiry about four months ago.

According to ED officials, the raid was conducted at Mr Ghosh’s residence after Ayan Sil, an accused in teachers recruitment scam, took the minister’s name alleging the latter’s involvement in irregularities in recruitment in municipalities during interrogations of the investigating agency earlier in July. ED unearthed the recruitment scam in civic bodies first while conducting raids in the office of Ayan at Salt Lake several months ago.

On the other hand, CPM activists, led by the party’s state secretary Md Salim started a procession from Ultadanga and reached the CGO Complex office at Salt Lake in the afternoon. “With instructions from the BJP government at the Centre ED, CBI and Delhi Police are arresting opposition leaders, journalists, writers and intellectuals but at the same time the central agencies are silent on Trinamul Congress leaders allegedly involved in different scams in Bengal. It’s clear that the agencies are trying to save the BJP and Trinamul Congress leaders,” Md Salim alleged.