The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out extensive, simultaneous search operations at multiple properties linked to Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA and former West Bengal minister Madan Mitra. Accompanied by central paramilitary forces, investigators launched early-morning raids across seven locations in and around Kolkata, intensifying their ongoing money laundering probe into the state’s alleged municipal recruitment scam.
According to agency officials, the searches began around 6:00 AM at Mitra’s primary residence in Bhabanipur, South Kolkata, where the Kamarhati legislator was intensely questioned by investigators. Parallel operations were conducted at his flats in Joka and Dakshineswar, a property in Beleghata, and two prominent local clubs in Bhabanipur and Santoshpur.
The central agency’s action stems from leads obtained during the interrogation of businessman Ayan Sil, who was arrested in 2023 in connection with a wider school job scam. Subsequential investigations into Sil’s firm, ABS Infozone Private Limited, exposed a massive separate racket involving rigged OMR sheets and manipulated interview processes for lower-level civic body jobs—such as clerks, sweepers, and pump operators—across at least seven municipalities.
ED sources allege that Mitra, a two-time MLA from Kamarhati, acted as a key beneficiary in this “gold-for-jobs” racket. Preliminary findings suggest he allegedly accepted substantial bribes in the form of cash and gold through a structured network of middlemen. In return, he facilitated the illegal appointments of unqualified candidates. Investigators have placed over 125 suspicious municipal recruitments under strict scrutiny, primarily focusing on the Kamarhati and adjacent Titagarh civic bodies.
During the day-long operation, federal agents reportedly recovered crucial financial documents, digital records, and identified six active bank accounts tied to the TMC leader to trace the illicit trail of funds. This crackdown marks a major escalation in the civic body scam probe, which recently saw the high-profile arrest of another former state minister, Sujit Bose.