TMC Bidhannagar candidate and Bengal minister Sujit Bose reached the CGO Complex in Kolkata on Friday with his son and legal counsel to appear before the Enforcement Directorate.
Speaking to the media before entering the ED office, Bose said, “I have come as per the high court’s direction. I do not know why I have been summoned by the ED.”
Bose was summoned four times by the ED last month in the alleged cash-for-municipal-job scam. He was first summoned on April 2 and asked to appear before the agency on April 6.
Bose had then submitted a request to the ED informing it that he had been nominated by his party to contest the Bengal Assembly elections, and he was going to file his nomination on April 6. So, he sought time to appear before the authority till May 15.
The ED again issued a notice to Bose on April 7, directing him to appear before the authority on April 9. Bose again requested the ED to grant some time to appear. Again, the ED issued a notice on April 9, directing him to appear before it on April 11.
Bose, thereafter, gave an authorisation along with the power of attorney to his son and requested the ED to allow his son to appear on his behalf. The ED did not consider the request made by Bose and again issued a summons on April 21.
Bose then challenged the summons and moved the Calcutta High Court, which then directed Bose to appear before the ED on May 1.
On October 10, 2025, multiple teams of ED officers had searched Bose’s Salt Lake office, a restaurant reportedly owned by his son, the residence of Nitai Dutta – vice-chairman of South Dum Dum Municipality and a close aide of Bose – and the houses of a chartered accountant and an auditor at Nagerbazar and Kankurgachi.
The searches, the agency said, led to the recovery of several “incriminating documents”.
“ED, Kolkata Zonal Office, has conducted a search operation at 13 places on 10.10.2025 in and around Kolkata in the Municipality Recruitment Scam of West Bengal. The premises covered during the search include the office of Sujit Bose, MLA & Minister of Fire & Emergency Services, West Bengal, and that of his firms, among others. During the searches, various incriminating documents, including property documents, digital devices, and unexplained cash amounting to Rs 45 lakh have been seized,” the agency said in a release.
According to sources in the agency, the investigation was due to the findings in 2023 suggesting that Ayan Sil – who is an accused in the recruitment scam for government-aided schools – also allegedly played a role in recruiting approximately 5,000 candidates to permanent posts in about 60 municipalities across the state.
Under the scanner are several civic bodies in and around Kolkata, which include South Dum Dum, Kamarhati, Panihati, North Dum Dum, and Baranagar municipalities, as well as a few in North Bengal.