'3rd arrested linkman in teachers' scam had connection with Partha'

KOLKATA: Chandan Mondal aka Ranjan, the third middleman arrested in connection with the multi-crore teachers' recruitment scam in West Bengal, has direct links with Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee, CBI sources said here on Saturday.

According to the sources in the probe agency, Mondal has acknowledged his direct connection with the former state education minister in face of the night-long interrogation by the central agency officials since his arrest on Friday afternoon.

Chatterjee is currently serving judicial custody in connection with the scam.

During the course of Mondal's interrogation, the probe officials also traced a chain of bank accounts that were used for phase-wise transfer of scam proceeds starting from the candidates paying money to the sub-agents and subsequently to the main agents and finally to the principal masterminds in the scam in state education department and West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), most of whom are currently serving judicial custody in connection with the scam.

Sources said Mondal has also confessed that besides money transfers there were also provisions for the candidates willing to pay money for jobs in state-run schools to pay the amounts in cash. "Chandan Mondal, Prasanna Roy and Pradeep acted as the most crucial links in the chain through which the entire scam was operated," a CBI associate said.

Meanwhile, CBI sleuths are now gearing up to take into custody the youth Trinamool Congress leader, Kuntal Ghosh, who was earlier arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths, who are also conducting a parallel probe in the teacher's recruitment scam.

The ED counsel claimed in the court Ghosh has admitted paying a major portion of the scam proceeds collected by him to Partha Chatterjee. CBI has already made a plea to a special court of the agency on this count to take Ghosh to custody. Ghosh is currently under judicial custody.

Sources said that since like Ghosh, Chandan Mondal has also claimed of his direct links with Partha Chatterjee, there is an urgent necessity to put them face-to-face and interrogate them together.