Third model-actor under CBI scanner in Bengal job scam case

Shahid Imam, who was a TMC office-bearer in Hooghly a few years ago, was arrested by the CBI on February 17 on suspicion of being one of the agents who collected money from job seekers

A small-time model and actor, Haimanti Ganguly, has come under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) during the ongoing probe into illegal appointment of teachers and non-teaching staff at Bengal’s state-run schools, officials of the federal agency said on Friday.

(Representative Photo)

Ganguly’s name was disclosed before the media earlier this week by Kuntal Ghosh, one of the accused in the recruitment scam when he was being taken from CBI custody to a Kolkata court for production.

Ghosh shouted at reporters that one of the suspects, Gopal Dalapati and his live-in-partner Haimanti Ganguly were in possession of a huge quantity of money collected from job-seekers. He also alleged that Dalapati used a second name, Armaan Ganguly, to operate.

A CBI official who did not want to be named said Dalapati, who earlier cooperated with the investigators and responded to the summons, has gone missing and efforts were on to trace him. He and Ganguly launched several companies, the CBI found during the preliminary investigation.

A Bengali movie director, who did not want to be identified, said Haimanti Ganguly, who acted in some music videos, was cast in a small role in a movie starring several top actors. The movie was released last year.

“We heard that she approached some directors with the offer to finance their movies,” the director added.

HT reported on February 21 that Kuntal Ghosh, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) youth wing leader from the Hooghly district, owns a production house.

Shahid Imam, who was a TMC office-bearer in Hooghly a few years ago, was arrested by the CBI on February 17 on suspicion of being one of the agents who collected money from job seekers. He produced several movies in the last seven years and also acted in some projects, which included music videos, CBI officials said.

The first model and actress to be arrested in this case is Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of former education minister Partha Chatterjee. The minister was arrested in July last year in connection with the case among others.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel probe, arrested Chatterjee and Mukherjee on July 23 last year. In its first charge sheet filed on September 19, ED said it traced cash, jewellery and immovable property worth ₹103.10 crore linked to the duo.

In May 2022, Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay ordered the CBI to probe the appointment of non-teaching staff (Group C and D) and teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission and West Bengal Board of Secondary Education between 2014 and 2021. The appointees allegedly paid bribes in the range of ₹5-15 lakh to get jobs after failing the selection tests.