KOLKATA — Just days after his party suffered a significant defeat in the state assembly elections, central enforcement officials announced they had finally apprehended a former minister accused of illegally recommending 150 candidates for municipal jobs in exchange for real estate and cash deposits.

The agency first raided the official's premises in October 2025 but permitted him to cite "election campaigning" as a valid reason to delay his appearance for questioning until May 1. "We take municipal recruitment scams very seriously, but we also respect the democratic process of letting a suspect try to retain his political leverage before we detain him," an agency spokesperson said.

Following the May 11 arrest, which coincided perfectly with the swearing-in of the new state government, authorities assured the public that the timeline was purely procedural. Officials confirmed that money laundering investigations into several other opposition leaders are now scheduled to aggressively resume, having been carefully paused while the agency waited to see who would win the election.