The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has called Bibhas Adhikari for questioning in connection with the primary school recruitment case in West Bengal. Adhikari, a close associate of Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya, who was previously arrested by the ED in a teacher recruitment scam, is now under scrutiny. Bhattacharya, who was granted bail by the Calcutta High Court in 2024, remains involved in the ongoing investigations.
The ED, alongside the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has been actively looking into the teacher recruitment case. Both agencies have conducted searches at various locations linked to Bibhas Adhikari, including Nalhati in Birbhum district. Adhikari, a former Trinamool Congress president of Block-II in Nalhati, became a person of interest following the arrest of Manik Bhattacharya.
In past developments, the CBI had summoned Adhikari multiple times and a chargesheet was filed against him in the recruitment case. Notably, Adhikari, known as a ‘close friend’ of Manik, was also associated with a private B.Ed and D.L.Ed college organization. The ED had previously linked Adhikari to a flat in north Kolkata during a search operation after Manik’s arrest in 2022.
In a related incident, Kuntal Ghosh and Gopal Dalpati, both involved in the recruitment scam, raised questions about Adhikari’s non-arrest. Subsequently, the CBI conducted raids at Adhikari’s residence and ashram in Nalhati. The final chargesheet in the primary recruitment scam case, submitted by the CBI in October 2025, implicated Manik Bhattacharya, Bibhas Adhikari, and Ratna Bagchi, among others. Investigators suspect Adhikari of playing a role as an agent in facilitating job placements through irregular means.
