The chief minister’s secretariat on Thursday sought to assure cancer patient Seema Mukherjee that her treatment would not stop because of lack of funds.

“We can assure her that her treatment will not stop because of her financial problems. We are trying to arrange funds for her,” said Joydip Mukherjee, the confidential assistant to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Metro had on Thursday reported Seema’s plight after a taxi driver drove off with her bag containing the money for her treatment on June 23. The 38-year-old woman, suffering from liver cancer, received little help from police and was shooed away from the chief minister’s office.

Mukherjee said he was too busy to meet Seema when she turned up at Writers’ Buildings on Tuesday. “My office staff received her written application which she had addressed to the chief minister, seeking help.”

Tracking down the taxi driver, the official asserted, would be given top priority.

“I have spoken to the deputy commissioner of police, detective department, Jawed Shamim, and asked him to do the needful,” Mukherjee said.

No one from Writers’, however, contacted Seema on Thursday.

Shamim said a “massive hunt” is on track down the driver. “The officers of the watch section have been asked to keep a tab on all stands. They have been given copies of the sketch of the driver, which has been prepared on the basis of the woman’s description. We are also in touch with our counterparts in Howrah, North and South 24-Parganas.”

Seema, now hopeful that her treatment would continue, said: “I want to live because of my two sons. I will be grateful to anyone who comes forward to save my life.”

The woman, estranged from her husband, was returning from her parents’ house in Durgapur with around Rs 3 lakh for her treatment that her father had given her from his retirement benefits.

She got off the taxi near her Ultadanga home but before all the luggage could be taken out, the driver sped away with a bag containing the cash.

She was under chemotherapy but had to stop her treatment after running out of money. She went to Writers’ Buildings on Tuesday after fixing an appointment with Mukherjee and even tried to meet the chief minister but his guards pushed away her.

Bimal Guha, the secretary of the Bengal Taxi Association (BTA) who has been helping Seema locate the driver, said his organisation and West Bengal Drivers Welfare Association were trying to raise money for the woman’s treatment. “We hope we will be able to give her some money,” said Guha.

Madan Mitra, the president of the Progressive Taximen’s Union, too, said he would try to help Seema.