Teachers' scam: Court gives conditional nod to CBI to collect voice sample of Trinamool MLA

Kolkata, April 25 A special CBI court on Tuesday gave conditional approval to the central agency to collect the voice sample of Trinamool Congress legislator Jiban Krishna Saha, who who been arrested in connection with the multi-crore teachers' recruitment scam in West Bengal.

While permitting the CBI to collect Saha's voice sample, the court directed the central agency to do that in front of any independent witness and without putting pressure on the accused.

The court also extended the CBI custody of the Trinamool MLA from Burwan in Murshidabad district till April 30.

After Saha was presented before the court on Tuesday, the CBI counsel said that several audio clips have been recovered from the two mobile phones of Saha and the central agency now wants to match them with his voice sample.

"The investigating officers believe that these audio clips might lead them to crucial clues relating to the involvement of the MLA in the recruitment scam. For that purpose, there is a necessity for extension of his CBI custody for further interrogation and collection of his voice sample," the CBI counsel argued.

To recall, when the CBI was conducting a raid and search operation at Saha's residence last week, he had thrown both his cellphones in a pond adjacent to his house. The CBI recovered the phones after a lot of efforts and the gadgets were sent for forensic test.

On Tuesday, Saha's counsel also moved a plea to shift his client to judicial custody instead of extension of his CBI custody. He argued that his client being an elected representative was suffering loss of public image.

However, the judge overruled his argument and extended Saha's CBI custody till April 30.

During the questioning of another arrested and expelled youth Trinamool leader Kuntal Ghosh, the central agency came across a local agent named Kaushik Ghosh. Sources said that Kaushik Ghosh mainly acted as an agent in Murshidabad district and his task was to arrange for prospective candidates willing to pay hefty sums for getting appointment in state-run schools.