West Bengal: CBI Raids Houses Of TMC Leaders Firhad Hakim, Madan Mitra

Kolkata: On Sunday, the Central Bureau of Investigation conducted raids on the residences of the Minister of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, Firhad Hakim, and the Mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), along with TMC MLA Madan Mitra, as well as 12 other locations in various districts of the state. These raids were in connection to alleged irregularities in civic bodies recruitment.

The central agencies searched Hakim's house for over nine hours, during which his wife and elder daughter were present. Simultaneously, CBI officials raided Mitra's residences in Bhawanipore and Dakshineswar for over five hours, seizing several documents from the Dakshineswar location.

"Did not bow down before the BJP": Hakim

After the raids concluded, Hakim addressed the media, asserting that he was facing harassment simply because he did not 'bow down before the BJP'.

"Am I a thief that I am being harassed? In the Narada bribery case, I faced similar harassment, but I had faith that justice would be served in a court of law. Surprisingly, Suvendu Adhikari, who is implicated in the same case, has not even been questioned. The Municipal Affairs minister has nothing to do with the recruitment process. It is better to endure personal suffering than to deceive people by promising jobs in exchange for money. I was born and raised in Chetak, and people know my character," said Hakim.

TMC MLA Madan Mitra, on the other hand, stated that he had informed the CBI that at the time of the alleged recruitment irregularities, he was neither an MLA nor at liberty.

Abhishek Banerjee, please that CBI raided two veteran TMC leaders: BJP

Meanwhile, Sukanta Majumdar, the state resident of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claimed to have information that Trinamool Congress (TMC) national secretary Abhishek Banerjee was 'pleased' that the CBI had conducted raids on the residences of two veteran TMC leaders.

It should be noted that on October 5, the residence of Food and Supply Minister Ratin Ghosh was also raided in connection to the recruitment irregularities in civic bodies.