School jobs case: MLA breaks down in court, sent to judicial custody
Times of India | 31 August 2025
Kolkata: Trinamool's Burwan MLA Jiban Krishna Saha, in ED custody since his arrest on Aug 25 in connection with the school jobs-for-cash probe, broke down in tears inside courtroom on Saturday.
A special PMLA court remanded Saha in judicial custody till Sept 12.
The MLA broke down into tears after noticing that his wife and son were present in the courtroom. His son hugged him as he tried to console his father.
ED's lawyer Bhaskar Prasad Banerjee said the agency had come across banking transactions that pointed to Saha's financial involvement in the scam. "Many tainted candidates were residents of the area where Saha stayed.
There were other tainted candidates who resided in the area under his jurisdiction as an MLA. There were cash transactions and cash deposits in banks that point towards his involvement," Banerjee said.
While ED officials earlier traced around Rs 56 lakh to Saha's accounts, the total amount traced to him was around Rs 1.2 crore so far. ED officials have reasons to believe that Saha accepted money from candidates while promising them jobs and later procured assets in his name and in the name of his relatives.
ED officials suspect that Saha was in touch with at least 75 candidates.
Earlier in the day, while being brought to court, Saha denied having thrown his mobile phones into the drain. "I did not throw the mobile phone; it slipped from my hand as I fell down," he said. According to ED sources, Saha has denied accepting money from candidates and paying any amount to any person.
Saha's lawyer Zakir Hossain did not move any bail plea. "We are dealing with an education scam. Some names in the first remand list have already secured bail. Saha was summoned twice and he has always cooperated with the agency," Hossain said.