Kolkata, June 4 (IANS) Former West Bengal Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Sujit Bose, who is in judicial custody in connection with the municipal recruitment corruption case, appeared in a virtual hearing in the court on Thursday.
Similar to the former Kolkata Police officer Shantanu Sinha Biswas and businessmen Jay Kamdar, Sujit Bose’s lawyer also requested the judge to grant his client the status of a Grade One prisoner. However, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) objected to this request sought by the former Minister’s lawyer.
On behalf of the ED, Deputy Solicitor General Dhiraj Trivedi, during the hearing in the special court on Thursday, said, “They have gone to the High Court in this case. Summons were sent to Nitai Dutta (Deputy Mayor of South Dum Dum Municipality and a close aide of Sujit Bose) for questioning.
He said that he is undergoing treatment in Hyderabad and will appear before the court this month.
Trivedi claimed that a list of names of candidates appointed in this case was found after searching. Several digital devices have also been seized.
Later, the lawyer representing the ED in connection with the municipal recruitment corruption case, said, “Some information has come to our hands. We want to question it. Although a person has been summoned repeatedly in this regard, he is not coming under anyone’s influence. Sujit Bose is an influential political figure.”
On the other hand, Sujit Bose’s lawyer said that his client’s name is not mentioned in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s charge sheet.
“There is no mention of money transactions. His client’s role did not come up in the statements of the accused either,” he added.
Sujit Bose is accused of illegally recommending the names of job recipients in the South Dum Dum Municipality during the investigation of the municipal recruitment corruption case.
According to ED sources, the list contains the names of around 150 job seekers.
The ED said that the money earned through corruption has gone into bank accounts. Therefore, information related to multiple bank accounts is also being investigated.
Before the arrest, the ED raided Sujit Bose’s house and office.
Along with this, central probe officials also searched the dhaba the former West Bengal Minister was operating in the state.
Sujit Bose was arrested on May 11.
Incidentally, Sujit Bose contested the Assembly elections from the Bidhannagar assembly constituency on a Trinamool Congress ticket. However, he was defeated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sharadwat Mukherjee by more than 37,000 votes.
–IANS
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