Police seize over Rs 1 crore from TMC office in West Bengal
The cash was recovered from a Sarisha office following the interrogation of an aide to MP Abhishek Banerjee.
West Bengal police seized Rs 1,02,79,000 in cash from a Trinamool Congress (TMC) office in the Sarisha area of Diamond Harbour on Tuesday night, according to reports by Rediff and The New Indian Express.
The search operation in the South 24 Parganas district took place after the interrogation of Sumit Roy, a personal assistant to TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee. Diamond Harbour police district Additional Superintendent of Police Abhishek Majumder confirmed the seizure of the money during a press conference on Wednesday.
Roy is currently in police custody in connection with alleged financial irregularities. The New Indian Express reported that Roy was arrested on charges of allegedly stealing soil in the Asuti police station area and forcibly grabbing government land in Salboni, Paschim Medinipur district.
Majumder stated that police obtained clues after interrogating Roy for long hours, leading to the search of the party office. While the office was identified as a TMC premises, the superintendent said police would need to determine exactly who ran the office.
The office is identified as the premises of Magrahat West MLA Shamim Ahmed, described as a rebel TMC MLA. Ahmed did not respond to queries regarding the seizure.
Police are investigating to ascertain the source of the cash. Sources indicated that a complaint had been lodged at the Asuti police station regarding the sale of soil from government and private land at high prices.