Bengal municipalities recruitment case: CBI conducts searches at 20 locations

State Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim criticized the raids, calling them part of a conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which he claims has been using central agencies against its political opponents.

"There are reasons to believe that it is an act of revenge by the BJP, which has been using central agencies against its political opponents. We have nothing against fair investigations, but we believe that such raids are part of a conspiracy. We want the truth to come out," the minister said.

However, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya countered these claims, stating that the CBI is investigating the alleged job scam in municipalities under the direction of the Calcutta High Court.

Thus, the TMC’s claim about conspiracy is "baseless". "Hakim is aware of the fact that sections of TMC workers are disgruntled for not getting jobs in local civic bodies, and they are happy with the court’s order and CBI searches," Bhattacharya said.

The CBI registered an FIR against Ayan Sil and his company ABS Infozone Pvt Ltd, which was responsible for printing and evaluating OMR sheets, for alleged manipulation of aspirants' scores. This case was initiated following an order from Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court on April 21.

The court instructed the West Bengal director general of police and the chief secretary to assist the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in their investigation into the alleged scam.

The ED had stated that a separate FIR would be required to investigate the alleged municipality recruitment scam under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act by the predicate agency — the CBI.

The ED had provided detailed information to the CBI and requested an investigation into the alleged irregularities in municipal recruitment, as the proceeds from the alleged teachers' recruitment scam were allegedly mixed with those from the alleged municipality recruitment scam.