After being arrested in a cattle smuggling case, Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal’s name has now been dragged into the West Bengal school recruitment scam.
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court ordered on Wednesday that Mondal’s daughter, Sukanya, and five of his relatives and close acquaintances appear before the court on Thursday by 3 p.m.
It followed a petition alleging that Sukanya and others had been illegally recruited into state-run schools despite failing the mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).
According to the petition, Sukanya has never attended work since she was offered the job, despite her school being located within the Bolpur circle. The petitioner also alleged that the school used to send her the attendance register for her to sign at home.
In connection with the Bengal cattle smuggling case, the TMC leader has already been taken into custody by the CBI. According to reports, the CBI froze accounts belonging to Mondal and his relatives, including Sukanya, on Wednesday.
In Bolpur, Kolkata and elsewhere in the state, the agency has already discovered a large number of immovable assets owned by Mondal and his daughter, including properties, rice mills, sand pits, dumpers and stakes in a private medical college.
Sukanya refused to face CBI officers on Wednesday afternoon after they arrived at her Bolpur residence to question her about cattle smuggling.
In the Bolpur West Circle, Sukanya Mondal and Anubrata Mondal’s PA, Arko Dutta, were given appointments at Kalikapur Primary School. In the same circle, Satyaki Mondal got a job at Kunjabehari Bolpur Junior Basic School. A few of Mondal’s close friends, Kasturi Chowdhury and Sujit Bagdi, were offered teaching posts at schools within the Bolpur Intensive Circle, as well as his brother, Sumit Mondal. According to the petition, none of the accused qualified for the TET.
In response to the petitioner’s submissions, the court ordered all six accused to appear in court on Thursday with their TET qualifying certificates and appointment letters, or else face serious legal action.
Moreover, Justice Gangopadhyay directed that Birbhum SP Nagendra Tripathi be informed of the court order so that he can ensure that the accused are transported safely to court.
Additionally, the court directed the teachers-in-charge of the respective schools to appear in court with their attendance records.
