Kolkata, Aug 25 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested TMC legislator Jiban Krishna Saha after dramatic raids at his residence in West Bengal's Murshidabad district in connection with the multi-crore school jobs scam, triggering a fresh political slugfest ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.

According to officials, the Burwan MLA allegedly tried to escape by scaling a boundary wall and was caught in a nearby agricultural field.

The drenched leader, mud sticking to his clothes, was seen in videos being escorted away by ED and CRPF personnel from a garbage-strewn patch of land, visuals that instantly went viral.

Investigators claimed that in a desperate bid to destroy evidence, Saha flung two of his mobile phones into a pond behind his house.

"As the legislator came to know about the raids, he tried to flee his house by scaling the boundary wall of the premises. He was chased and caught by our officers and central forces in an agricultural field. He was caught with mud on his body," an ED officer said.

The agency is also conducting searches at the residence of his personal assistant in Birbhum, he said.

"Our officers have recovered both the mobile phones from the pond. Both devices will be sent for forensic examination. The MLA is being interrogated," he said, adding that raids were simultaneously carried out at the residences of his relatives in Raghunathganj and his personal assistant in Birbhum.

The MLA was arrested under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for alleged non-cooperation.

In April 2023, the CBI had arrested him in the same case and later released him on bail.

The ED's case stems from a CBI FIR registered on the orders of the Calcutta High Court into alleged irregularities in the recruitment of Group C and D staff, assistant teachers of classes 9 to 12 and primary teachers.

The central agency has so far filed four charge sheets and arrested several key figures, including former state education minister Partha Chatterjee, his alleged aide Arpita Mukherjee and ex-TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya.

The fresh arrest immediately sharpened the political war of words in Bengal, with the TMC alleging vendetta politics ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, while the BJP claimed that the arrests prove that the ruling party and corruption are "two sides of the same coin." "@BJP4India runs on an E ² policy! The first 'E', the @ECISVEEP is used as a weapon to strip citizens of their voting rights. If that fails, the second 'E', the @dir_ed, is unleashed as a political weapon. As exposed by our Parliamentary Party Leader Shri @abhishekaitc, the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill is not aimed at fighting corruption. Its sole purpose is to crush the Opposition. This is dictatorship in disguise," the party posted on X.

Senior TMC leader Jaiprakash Majumdar alleged the ED was acting at BJP's behest.

"He was earlier arrested and kept in custody for months, but nothing was proved. Again, on the eve of elections, ED has arrested him. This is nothing but vendetta politics," he said.

The BJP countered with equal force, insisting that the arrests only reinforced what aspirants denied jobs under the scam had long been saying.

"TMC and the SSC scam are synonymous. Why should those who looted the future of students not be arrested? The party and corruption are two sides of the same coin," state BJP general secretary Jagganath Chattopadhyay said.

The SSC scam, which has already seen high-profile arrests, continues to cast a shadow over Bengal's political landscape with the opposition determined to keep it alive as a poll issue, and the ruling party portraying the arrests as part of a larger political conspiracy. PTI NES SCH PNT NSD BDC PNT MNB

Money laundering probe leads to arrest and forensic seizure in alleged public recruitment scam ahead of elections. The Enforcement Directorate arrested MLA Jiban Krishna Saha under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in the SSC recruitment probe, recovered two mobile phones for forensic examination, linked the action to a CBI FIR and multiple charge sheets in the alleged recruitment irregularities, and is conducting interrogations and coordinated searches of associated residences.