Police seize over Rs 1.02 crore from party office in West Bengal
The cash was recovered from a Sarisha office during an investigation into a land grab case involving an aide to Abhishek Banerjee.
West Bengal police seized more than Rs 1.02 crore in cash from a political party office in the Sarisha area of South 24 Parganas on Tuesday night, according to reports by Hindustan Times and The New Indian Express.
The search operation followed the interrogation of Sumit Roy, the personal assistant to All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) national secretary Abhishek Banerjee. Additional police superintendent Abhishek Majumdar said the money was recovered after statements made by Roy provided clues during the investigation.
Roy is currently in custody as a prime suspect in a case involving the alleged forcible grabbing of government land in Salboni and soil theft in the Asuti police station area. He was arrested on September 10 by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) after the Supreme Court denied him anticipatory bail.
While the police did not name the specific party running the office, the AITC came under scrutiny as it occupied a rented office at that address until May this year. The superintendent noted that investigations are ongoing to determine who ran the office and the role Roy played.
AITC lawyer Arka Nag alleged that the money was planted to malign the party. Nag claimed that during interrogation, Roy was threatened with an encounter and stated that the party would move court regarding the allegations.
The AITC stated that the rented premises had been ransacked and vandalised on May 21. The police have not made a statement regarding the allegations made by the lawyer.