West Bengal CID arrests one person in AIIMS appointment case
The suspect, Somnath Biswas, was arrested from Naida and produced before a local court that remanded him to CID custody for two weeks
The criminal investigation department (CID) of West Bengal police on Sunday arrested a suspect in connection with alleged irregularities in some contractual appointments at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Kalyani, Nadia district, officials aware of the development said.
“The suspect, Somnath Biswas, was arrested from Naida and produced before a local court that remanded him to CID custody for two weeks,” a police official said on conditions of anonymity.
Two state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators, Niladri Sekhar Dana and Bankim Ghosh, who have been summoned to the CID headquarters in Kolkata later this week for questioning, have been under scanner in this case since last year.
The recruitments were done by a private company hired by AIIMS Kalyani, officials said.
The CID filed the case in May 2022 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act following complaints that Anusuya Dhar, the daughter-in-law of BJP legislator Bankim Ghosh from Chakdah in Nadia, was appointed although she did not qualify for the job.
In June 2022, another case was filed following complaints that Maitrayee Dana, the daughter of BJP’s Bankura MLA Niladri Sekhar Dana, was appointed as a data entry operator although she did not appear for the eligibility test.
Both MLAs and the BJP have claimed that the allegations are baseless.
“The CID is being used as a political tool against BJP,” Bankim Ghosh said.
Sunday’s arrest was made days after Trinamool Congress chairperson and chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that if federal agencies arrest four of her leaders, then eight BJP leaders will land behind bars. She was referring to the cases filed against TMC leaders and ministers by the CBI and ED.
“If you put four of our leaders in jail, we will arrest eight of yours,” Banerjee, who is also in charge of the home department, said at a TMC convention at Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium on November 23.
West Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya did not comment on the CID arrest but reacted to Banerjee’s statement.
“This sort of vindictive attitude is not expected of a chief minister. She is not doing justice to her stature,” he said.