Kolkata, Oct 27 (IANS) A witness in the multi-crore School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam on Monday told a special CBI court in Alipore that appointment letters were hurriedly issued to select “high-profile” candidates during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Testifying before the court, Rajesh Layek, a former technical officer in the state Education Department, said several applications were treated as “high-profile cases” and those candidates were issued appointment letters in advance. Layek stated that these letters were prepared during the lockdown period on instructions from senior officials.

Former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, who is currently in judicial custody and undergoing treatment in hospital, attended the proceedings virtually. Arrested former officials Ashok Kumar Saha, Subiresh Bhattacharya and Kalyanmoy Gangopadhyay also joined the hearing online from the Presidency Correctional Home.

Layek, who is a key CBI witness in the case, told the court that he prepared the appointment letters on orders issued from his seniors. He said that former top officers of the Education Department, including Shanti Prasad Sinha and Kalyanmoy Gangopadhyay, summoned him to their chambers and directed him to issue the letters.

The witness also told the court that an RTI case during that period revealed increased marks for several candidates, and the order to issue appointment letters was given specifically for those whose marks had risen.

The alleged SSC recruitment scam has dominated West Bengal politics for nearly three years, with central agencies accusing senior politicians, officials and middlemen of orchestrating a massive racket to illegally appoint teachers in exchange for bribes and by manipulating OMR sheets. Partha Chatterjee, TMC MLA Jiban Krishna Saha and several officials are among those arrested, while both the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) continue parallel investigations.

–IANS

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