Former minister Sujit Basu appears before ED again in municipal recruitment scam case

Former West Bengal minister Sujit Basu appeared before the Enforcement Directorate on Monday in connection with the municipal recruitment scam case. He reached the agency’s CGO Complex office in Salt Lake at around 10:30 am carrying several documents for questioning by investigators.

The former Fire Services Minister had earlier appeared before the ED on May 1 after the Calcutta High Court directed him to comply with the summons issued by the central agency. Investigators had subsequently summoned him again after fresh information reportedly emerged during the course of the investigation. Earlier, the ED had issued another summons to Basu on May 6 in the same case.

According to officials, Sujit Basu had been summoned multiple times earlier as well but could not appear because of election-related engagements. On May 1, he remained at the ED office for nearly nine hours after arriving at around 10:25 am. Investigators questioned him regarding allegations linked to irregularities in municipal recruitment processes.

Earlier, while addressing a press conference on April 24, Sujit Basu had alleged that the action against him was politically motivated. Referring to ED raids and notices issued to him, he had said that his name was not included in the chargesheet and that he would pursue legal remedies later. After his previous appearance before investigators, Basu stated that he would cooperate with the investigation if summoned again and remarked, “Doing business is not a crime. Stealing is a crime.”