The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Jiban Krishna Saha in connection with the ongoing probe into the West Bengal school recruitment scam. The arrest followed extensive searches at his residence in Murshidabad district, where officials alleged that the legislator attempted to flee by jumping over a wall and even threw his mobile phones into a drain, later recovered by the agency. The MLA, representing Burwan Assembly constituency, has been taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for non-cooperation with the investigation.

Saha’s arrest marks another high-profile development in the case that has rocked West Bengal politics. Earlier, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested him in 2023 for his alleged involvement in irregularities in teacher recruitment but later released him. The ED case stems from the FIR filed by the CBI, which was directed by the Calcutta High Court to investigate large-scale irregularities in the appointment of teachers and non-teaching staff across government schools in the state. The scam allegedly involved manipulation of recruitment processes for group ‘C’ and ‘D’ staff, as well as teachers for primary and higher classes.

The ED has already arrested several key figures in the case, including former state education minister Partha Chatterjee, his associate Arpita Mukherjee, and TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya, the former president of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education. Chatterjee was suspended by the ruling TMC following his arrest. With multiple charge sheets filed and fresh arrests being made, the probe has intensified pressure on the Mamata Banerjee-led government, providing ammunition to opposition parties who accuse the ruling dispensation of shielding corruption within its ranks.