Bengal school job case: ED officer who downloaded files during raid, out of probe team

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer, who downloaded 16 personal files at the computer of a corporate entity linked to the prime accused in the multi-crore cash-for-school- job case in West Bengal Sujay Krishna Bhadra during raids last week, has been moved out of the investigation team of the central agency.

Sources aware of the development said that the said officer also has been transferred from the ED office at Salt Lake in northern outskirts of Kolkata to the agency's Guwahati office.

The decision was taken after an internal departmental probe in the matter, where all within the agency conducting the internal probe admitted that though inadvertently the downloading of those personal at the computer of an entity before, during and even after the raid was a highly
irresponsible task.

In fact, the ED had already faced tremendous embarrassment from multiple fronts because of the action of just one officer. An employee of the said corporate entity had already filed a complaint at the cyber- crime division of Kolkata Police accusing ED of “planting evidence” at the computer during the said raid and search operations.

The central agency has also faced the ire of the Justice Amrita Sinha of Calcutta High Court or
the action of that officer. It had clarified that the 16 personal files downloaded by one of their officials at the computer of the said corporate entity was done inadvertently while searching for a students’ hostel for his daughter who has recently got admitted to one of the reputed engineering universities in the state.

It has also clarified that the inadvertent file downloading relating to the students’ hostel was done after the raid and search operations were concluded and they were done under CCTV monitoring and in presence of the employees of the company as well as the independent witnesses present at the spot then.

The two independent witnesses present at the spot included a deputy manager and an assistant manager of state-run Punjab National Bank.