The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday arrested two former officials of the West Bengal School Service Commission for their involvement in an alleged scam in the recruitment of teachers in the state in 2018, PTI reported.

The officials arrested were identified as former advisory committee chairperson Shanti Prasad Sinha and former secretary Ashok Saha.

These are the first arrests made by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the alleged school jobs scam.

The central agency is investigating allegations that teachers were recruited illegally by the West Bengal School Service Commission in 2018.

On Wednesday, an unidentified Central Bureau of Investigation official told PTI that Sinha and Saha attempted to mislead the investigating officers during questioning.

“Both were non-cooperative,” the official said. “As they were hiding information, we decided to arrest them and interrogate them in our custody.”

They were then taken to the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata for a medical checkup and will be produced before a court on Thursday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had previously interrogated former Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee, Sinha and Manik Bhattacharya, an MLA of the ruling Trinamool Congress, on multiple occasions in the past, according to The Indian Express.

Chatterjee was the state education minister in 2018 when the alleged scam took place. He, along with his aide Arpita Mukherjee, were arrested on July 23 by the Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating allegations of money-laundering in the case.

The Enforcement Directorate has claimed that it has seized Rs 49.80 crore in cash, jewellery and gold bars from apartments owned by Mukherjee, besides documents of properties and a company in joint holding.