The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused arrested Trinamool Congress leader Sujit Bose of diverting illicit funds from a West Bengal municipality recruitment scam into his hospitality ventures, including a Chinese restaurant and a bar. The allegations appear in a chargesheet filed before a Kolkata PMLA court on July 9.
Chargesheet details and key accused
The prosecution complaint names Bose, his son Samudra Bose, former IAS officer Jyotishman Chattopadhyay, and others. Bose, a former fire and emergency services minister, was arrested in May and remains in Kolkata prison.
According to the ED, Bose allegedly recommended 340 candidates for South Dumdum Municipality posts between 2014 and 2022, with 284 securing appointments. Payments from undeserving candidates were routed through his proprietorship firm, Chinese Quisine Restaurant, and recorded as legitimate cash sales despite limited operations.
Funds used to expand hospitality businesses
The agency claims these proceeds were then used to finance and expand entities like Shree Venkatesh Banquets and Speciality Dhaba LLP, which operated Bengal Dhaba and The Bar & Lounge. Additional funds for property acquisitions came from shell companies and individuals, later repaid through inflated cash sales.
The ED also alleges Bose received flats in exchange for job guarantees. Chattopadhyay, it claims, abused his position to facilitate illegal appointments in violation of recruitment procedures. This is the second chargesheet in the case, following one against Ayan Sil in February 2025.
Bose, a three-time MLA from Bidhannagar, lost the recent Assembly elections to BJP's Sharadwat Mukherjee by over 37,000 votes. The ED had raided him in October 2025, along with former minister Rathin Ghosh.
