Kolkata, 25 August

A TMC MLA was caught while allegedly fleeing his residence on Monday during searches by the Enforcement Directorate at the properties linked to the legislator in West Bengal's Murshidabad district in connection with its probe into "irregularities" in the school recruitments, officials said.

The ED raids are underway on the residence of TMC legislator Jiban Krishna Saha in Burwan and also on the properties of his in-laws in Raghunathganj, they said.

"As the legislator came to know about the raids, he tried to flee his house by scaling the boundary wall of the premises. The MLA was chased and caught by our officers and central forces in an agricultural field. He was caught with mud on his body," the ED officer told PTI.

The ED is also conducting searches at the residence of his personal assistant in Birbhum, he said.

The MLA threw his mobile phone into a pond near his house in an attempt to destroy evidence, the ED officer claimed.

“Our officers have recovered both the mobile phones from the pond. Both devices will be sent for forensic examination. The MLA is being interrogated," he said.

Based on information about a monetary transaction by a man from Birbhum district in connection with the alleged recruitment scam, the raid was conducted, he said.

"The individual from Birbhum district accompanied the ED team to Saha's house this morning," the officer said.

The central probe agency had earlier questioned Saha's wife in connection with the scam.

The CBI had arrested Saha in April 2023 in connection with the alleged irregularities in the school recruitments.

He was released on bail in May this year.

The Enforcement Directorate has been investigating the money laundering aspect of the alleged scam, while the CBI is probing the criminal links to it.