Overview
- College staff breaking a padlock during a KMC pre-monsoon clean-up on Tuesday found two suitcases in a locked union storeroom that contained heavily termite-damaged Rs 100 and Rs 500 notes, police said.
- Police seized the suitcases, documents and the firearm and the Muchipara police registered a case the following day that names local TMC leader Debashish (Debasish) Banerjee and college vendor Paritosh Dutta in connection with alleged criminal trespass and related charges.
- Media estimates of the cash range from just over one lakh rupees to claims of several lakhs or more but Kolkata Police say a detailed inventory and forensic verification are under way and the exact amount remains unconfirmed.
- Subsequent inspections uncovered furnished rooms on campus plus liquor bottles and condom packets, prompting questions about who controlled locked spaces on campus and drawing accusations from BJP leaders and denials or limited comment from TMC figures.
- The recovery comes against a backdrop of a 2025 Calcutta High Court order that shut student-union rooms and recent state directives to audit union funds, a context that could widen probes of campus finances and access to union premises.