Overview
- Police arrested Baduria Municipality chairman Dipankar Bhattacharya after raids that on Tuesday led to the seizure of about Rs 80 lakh and roughly 4,000 government-issued tarpaulins and other relief items.
- Officers dug up a jute field linked to Bhattacharya and recovered trolley bags and sacks that were counted by bank officials; the field haul was declared at Rs 2.24 crore and raises his total seized cash to about Rs 3.04 crore.
- Investigators have also arrested regional TMC leader Gautam Ari after relief materials including blankets, tarpaulins and fish feed were recovered from his home and separate raids in the district arrested Ajit Saha and his brother with cash, arms and ammunition.
- The probe began after residents reported late-night movement of goods and burning of documents near a local TMC office and has produced multiple FIRs, continued currency-counting and expanded searches as police trace the provenance of the items.
- The seizures come as law-enforcement activity has increased after a change in state government and could prompt wider inquiries into local distribution of relief schemes and alleged commission-taking on housing allotments.