Alleged jobs scam: Protesters blocking road in Kolkata removed on court orders – Hindustan Times

Over a hundred aspiring schoolteachers protesting against the alleged bribe-for-jobs scam in West Bengal were removed from a road in Kolkata late on Thursday on the Calcutta high court orders.

The protesters blocked the main thoroughfare at Korunamoyee in Salt Lake, where the office of the Board of Primary Education is located, for three days. They cleared the 2014 Teachers Eligibility Test but were deprived of employment because of the alleged scam.

The board filed a petition in the high court, saying the protesters blocked the way to its office. The court ordered immediate imposition of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which bars a gathering of over four people, around the board’s office and asked police to disperse the protesters.

“The crackdown started after the agitators refused to budge despite requests for over five hours,” a police officer said. Five of the protesters were on hunger strike.

The protesters mostly women were removed even as they resisted the midnight operation. A section of protesters started a fresh sit-in at the same spot around 1.30am.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee of using brutal force.

In a tweet, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said the situation was alarming in the state and accused police of using force to forcefully end a legitimate demonstration. “WB [West Bengal] or Hitler’s Germany?” he tweeted

The BJP and the CPI (M)’s youth wings announced state-wide protests on Friday. Congress leaders also vowed to hit the streets.

In May, the high court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the alleged scam. Ineligible candidates were allegedly appointed in lieu of bribes in the range of ₹5 to 15 lakh after failing selection tests between 2014 and 2021 when Partha Chatterjee was the education minister.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also probing the matter and arrested Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee in July. In its charge sheet filed last month, ED said so far it has traced cash, jewellery, and immovable property worth ₹103.10 crore allegedly linked to the two. The federal agency cited details of 35 bank accounts, 40 immovable properties, 31 life insurance policies, and 201 shell companies. The immovable properties have been attached. Chatterjee allegedly formed shell companies to launder bribes.