New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS): The BJP on Thursday said that by defending Anubrata Mondal publicly, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has owned up to his crime. The BJP also pointed out the Calcutta High Court's direction to Sukanya Mondal, daughter of Anubrata Mondal, to present before the court on Thursday in a case pertaining to the primary teachers' recruitment scam in West Bengal.

West Bengal BJP co-incharge, Amit Malviya said, "Investigating agencies have so far unearthed unaccounted FDs worth Rs 17 crore and Calcutta HC has asked Anubroto Mondal's daughter, who got a teacher's job without even taking the TET, to appear. By defending him publicly after his arrest, Mamata Banerjee has owned up his crimes."

Earler, the Calcutta High Court directed Sukanya to present all the related documents supporting her claim of qualifying the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) on the basis of which she secured the job. The single-judge bench directed five other relatives of Anubrata Mondal, including his brother Sumit Mondal and nephew Satyaki Mondal, to be present at the court on similar charges of getting teaching jobs through unethical means.

At a pre-Independence Day function on Sunday, Chief Minister Banerjee had said, "Why have they arrested Mondal? What has he done? I have no objections to central agencies probing genuine cases. The Union government has always been against Mondal. In every election, he is kept under house arrest. His arrest will give birth to thousands of Mondals." This is the first time that Banerjee spoke about Mondal after the latter was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 11.