Police prepare an inventory of the seized files at Tshering’s house. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, March 11: Over 100 hill council documents that had allegedly been smuggled out of its headquarters were seized from the houses of former officials today.

Raids started after Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders complained to police that the former officials were seen removing files from Lal Kothi.

The police confirmed the seizure of 117 files from the house of Sonam Tshering, who had stepped down as the officer in charge of power (rural electrification) on February 25.

A photocopy of a note da- ted February 27, 1992, in which Subash Ghisingh had asked officials to speed up the transfer of Rs 30 lakh to his account, was found in the house of T. Wangchuk, a former finance secretary of the council.

The money was to be transferred from the funds for rural development.

Ghisingh resigned from the council yesterday, after 20 years.

A copy of the inventory of seized files prepared by the police is with The Telegraph.

Government officials could not immediately confirm if a hill council chairman (the post Ghisingh held in 1992) was entitled to hold a current account. But Morcha leaders had no doubt that the police had touched the tip of the council’s corruption.

“We are trying to find out whether money for rural development can be transferred to the chairman’s current acco-unt,” said Amar Lama, a Morcha leader.

Tshering said he had brought the files home for safe custody as no officer took the post of central technical adviser after he was transferred in 2007.

Darjeeling district magistrate Rajesh Pandey, also the hill council’s principal secretary, has ordered a probe.

He said notices had been issued asking officials not to remove files without written permission from council sec- retaries. “If the files are removed, departmental action will be taken against the secretaries,” Pandey said.