Kolkata, May 3 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday informed a special PMLA court here that expelled youth Trinamool Congress leader Santanu Bandopadhyay collected an amount of Rs 1.40 crore against 26 illegal recruitments.

"These recruitments were mainly for the primary and upper primary sections in the state-run schools in West Bengal," the ED counsel told the court.

He also informed the court that Bandopadhyay had misled a number of daily-wage earners associated with a construction company to channelise the scam proceeds.

"First, he used to get signatures from these daily wage earners on the cheques of their bank accounts. Then he used to deposit some amounts in their bank accounts and immediately withdrew them using their signed cheques. These daily wage earners were associated with a company called Lotus Constructions, which was an empaneled construction contractor with a number of panchayats in the state," the ED counsel told the court.

Bandopadhyay's counsel claimed that the ED had not substantiated the charges it levelled against his client with supporting documents. He also claimed that the event of recovery of OMR sheets and admit cards from the residence of his client might not be true.

After hearing both sides, the court extended Bandopadhyay's judicial custody till May 17.