The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested ex-West Bengal minister and TMC leader Sujit Bose in connection with the municipality recruitment scam in the state.
This major move comes just days after the BJP swept the state with a 207-seat win in the 2026 Assembly elections against the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, and a day after CM Suvendu Adhikari was sworn into his post.
The TMC leader from the Bidhannagar Assembly constituency is accused of illegally recommending 150 candidates for different posts under the South Dum Dum Municipality, in exchange for pecuniary benefits.
In fact, the ED said that it had traced some of these benefits in the form of flats he had allegedly acquired in exchange for the municipality recommendation favours.
The agency added that it had also traced huge deposits of cash sent to bank accounts under his control for similar similar reasons.
Bose will be produced before a special court on Tuesday.
However, his lawyer, Amalesh Roy, claimed it was doubtful if Bose had been "officially arrested".
"The recording is still going on ... They have not intimated us till now, we were sitting in the lobby ... I can't say anything," he told reporters outside the ED office in Kolkata, adding that Sujit's son, Samudra Bose, was also being questioned in connection to the case.
Notably, the ED had summoned Sujit several times before the recently concluded Assembly elections in the state. However, he was not able to appear for questioning due to his busy schedule as he had been campaigning from his stronghold of Bidhannagar, from where he eventually lost.
Sujit later went to the ED office at Salt Lake after a High Court order, after which he was questioned in connection to the recruitment scam. The agency also raided Sujit's house, office, and other locations linked to him as the probe continues.