Shawdesh Desk;

India’s top anti-corruption agency Central Bureau of Investigation today raided the residences of senior West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim and ruling Trinamool Congress legislator Madan Mitra in south Kolkata in connection with its probe into the alleged irregularities in recruitments made by the civic bodies in the state, officials said.

Hakim, Minister for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, is also the mayor of Kolkata. He is a senior leader of TMC. A team of CBI officers reached Firhad’s residence in south Kolkata’s Chetla area along with a large contingent of federal forces, officials said. Two CBI officers are questioning him,” a senior official said.

As the searches began, Hakim’s supporters gathered outside his house and began a protest.

The CBI also raided the residence of Madan Mitra, a former minister and elected legislator of Kamarhati in North 24 Parganas district, in Bhabanipur, another South Kolkata locality nearly three km from Hakim’s residence.

Both Firhad Hakim and Mitra were arrested by the CBI in 2021 in the Narada sting operation case. Mitra was also arrested by the CBI in 2014 in the Saradha chit fund scam.

The CBI raid on the houses of Firhad and Mitra came two days after anti-money laundering agency Enforcement Directorate searched multiple locations, including the residence of West Bengal Food and Supplies Minister Rathin Ghosh, in connection with the recruitment cases.

Federal investigating agencies allege that around 1,500 people were illegally recruited by different civic bodies in the state between 2014 and 2018, against monetary considerations.