Bengal teachers' scam: CBI inducts 7 more officers in SIT

In a bid to speed up the probe into the multi-crore teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has decided to add seven more officers to the existing Special Investigation Team (SIT). With this new induction, the total number of members in SIT will increase to 15.

According to sources, other officers have been asked to report immediately to the CBI's Anti-Corruption Wing (ACW) office at the Nizam Palace in Kolkata.

The officers consist of one Superintendent, three Deputy Superintendents, two Inspectors and one Sub-Inspector. They are currently stationed at CBI offices in Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Dhanbad, Bhopal and Visakhapatnam. Sources said that initially they will be attached to the SIT probing the matter for a few months and depending on the progress of the probe, their attachment period may increase over time.

In recent times, the CBI has faced the ire of judges of various courts over the agency's slow pace of investigations into the scam. The current decision to add to the strength of the SIT to investigate the matter is seen as a visible attempt to increase the pace of the investigation.

Sources said the SIT had recently sent a report to the agency's headquarters in Delhi about the progress of its investigation in the matter. The report claimed that there was an urgent need to strengthen the SIT as more and more new names emerged during the course of the investigation. Ultimately, this submission was accepted by the higher authorities of the agency.

Recently, as many as eight officers attached to various units under the West Bengal Education Department have come under the CBI's scrutiny. The Central Agency decided to summon them one by one for questioning in a short period of time.