Bengal municipalities' recruitment: CBI summons key aide of arrested promoter

Kolkata, July 8 (IANS) The CBI has summoned for interrogation Debesh Chakraborty, a key suspect in the municipalities’ recruitment case in West Bengal.

Debesh Chakraborty is a close confidant of arrested private promoter Ayan Sil.

Chakraborty, who the CBI believes was the medium between Ayan Sil and the middlemen in the case, has been asked to be present at the central agency’s Nizam Palace office in central Kolkata by Monday afternoon.

Sources said he has also been named as a co-accused in the charge sheet filed by the central agency at a special CBI court last week.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Chakraborty was the final point of contact between eligible candidates willing to pay for jobs and an outsourced agency owned by Ayan Sil for recruitment for different municipalities.

Sources said that such candidates were first introduced to Chakraborty, who after settling the deal recommended the candidates to Ayan Sil for consideration.

The CBI has secured names of some candidates who got jobs after being recommended by Chakraborty.

Sources said that some of them were questioned by the CBI, and the sleuths got information about Chakraborty from them.

Investigations revealed that recruitments against cash were done in several municipalities for posts of medical officers, ward masters, clerks, drivers, helpers, cleaning assistants, among others.

In the charge sheet, the CBI had given details of how identical questions were set for written examinations for grades of posts to make room for candidates paying money for jobs.

Interrogation revealed that instead of hiring the expertise of any specialised agency on this count, the task of setting question papers for different posts was given to the agency owned by Ayan Sil.