Kolkata, Sep 20 (IANS): A special CBI court on Tuesday sent arrested University of North Bengal Vice Chancellor and West Bengal School Service Commission's (WBSSC) former Chairman Subiresh Bhattacharya to the central agency's custody till September 26.
Bhattacharya was arrested on Monday afternoon by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the multi-crore WBSSC recruitment scam.
CBI counsel informed the court that the central agency sleuths have procured copies of 300 entrance examination marksheets where the marks were altered directly allegedly under the instructions of Bhattacharya. Based on altered marks, recommendations for employment to ineligible candidates were made, the CBI counsel informed the court.
On the other hand, Bhattacharya's counsel argued that since the CBI has not mentioned the exact time-bracket when this alternation of marks took place, their argument on this count against his client does not stand.
After hearing both sides, the court sent Bhattacharya to six days CBI custody.
State Education Minister, Bratya Basu told media persons that since it is a judicial matter, he has no comments to offer in the matter.
Regarding Bhattacharya's replacement as Vice Chancellor, he said that nothing has been decided in the matter as yet. "It is an extraordinary situation and so whatever decision has to be taken will be only after consultation with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," he said.
CPI-M Politburo member and the party's state Secretary, Mohammad Salim said that the arrest of a Vice Chancellor of a state university on charges of corruption was unheard of in the history of the state's education system. "The state's rich education system was our pride. The current regime has totally destroyed that education system," he said.
Currently, besides Bhattacharya, the other key persons behind the scam who are in CBI custody now are the former state Education Minister Partha Chattopadhyay, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education's former President Kalyanmoy Gangopadhyay, WBSSC's former Secretary, Ashok Saha and WBSSC's screening committee's former convenor S.P. Sinha.