Edu jobs scam: ‘Kalighater Kaku’ in ED custody

Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday took Sujay Krishna Bhadra alias ‘Kalighater Kaku' into custody for not cooperating with the investigation after questioning him for 11 hours in the cash-for-jobs scam.
The agency announced his arrest at 10.51pm after investigators got the go-ahead from the ED's Delhi headquarters.
Bhadra was summoned for questioning 10 days after ED officials seized documents allegedly revealing his financial dealings with three suspected shell companies.ED sources said he was asked to explain the source of his income based on which he had acquired several properties and paid Rs 40 lakh to a developer firm whose director happens to be Trinamool youth leader Santanu Banerjee's wife Priyanka Banerjee. Investigators asked Bhadra how he came to know Banerjee and his wife and whether he showed the transaction in his personal returns.
Sources said the documents seized from the premises of Bhadra and data retrieved from his cell phones gave the investigators valuable information. The investigators also questioned the accountants and certain employees of the three companies under scanner, before sending summons to Bhadra.
Investigators examined the bank transaction statements Bhadra had submitted to the investigating agency to find out if the facts revealed in the seized documents were tallied with the bank statements.
Bhadra had earlier told the media that he had inherited an ancestral home, a flat and a plot near Frazerganj in South 24 Parganas. However, at least 17 properties are under the ED scanner.
ED sources said the investigators asked Bhadra whether he knew Trinamool leader Kuntal Ghosh, who is currently in custody in the cash-for-job case. Bhadra, a former director of Leaps and Bounds and later an employee, came to the limelight after an accused in the school recruitment case Tapas Mandal and another accused Gopal Dalapati referred to him as ‘Kalighater Kaku'.
Bhadra was summoned for questioning 10 days after ED teams conducted searches at four addresses of Bhadra for over 12 hours, on the same day when the CBI was questioning Trinamool national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee at Nizam Palace.
Following raids at Bhadra's house ‘Radharani' in Behala, his flat and two offices in the neighbourhood on May 20, ED officers seized documents allegedly showing Bhadra's financial dealings with the three companies under question.