A day after his arrest and recovery of ₹80 lakh from his residence, five sacks of cash amounting to ₹2.24 crore were dug out from a jute field near the home of Baduria municipality chairman and Trinamool Congress leader Dipankar Bhattacharyya on Wednesday.
On Tuesday night, party functionary and North 24-Parganas zilla parishad member Ajit Saha, along with his brother Sujit Saha, was arrested in an extortion case. Around ₹27.08 lakh in cash was recovered from Sujit's residence at Maslandapur while ammunition, firearms and foreign liquor were recovered during raids at Ajit's residence in the same area that night.
The twin developments have exposed the alleged criminal-politician nexus operating under the previous Trinamool establishment, the BJP has said.
Wads of cash, arms and liquor bottles recovered from Trinamool leader and North 24-Parganas zilla parishad member Ajit Saha and his brother Sujit Saha. Sudip Deb
According to investigators, police dug up portions of a jute field in Baduria and recovered five sacks stuffed with cash. Bhattacharyya was arrested from a hotel on Tuesday night. Cops said that on Tuesday, ₹80 lakhs in cash and at least 4,000 government-supplied tarpaulins meant for relief distribution were seized from his "computer room" attached to his residence.
Earlier, following the recovery of tarpaulins from a party office on May 24, separate complaints were lodged against Bhattacharyya by the BJP and the CPM, prompting police to initiate a probe. Residents alleged that on the night of May 24, tarpaulins and documents in bulk were removed from Bhattacharyya’s office and a local Trinamool office in vans. Residents informed Baduria police, but by the time officers reached the spot, Bhattacharyya and his associates had allegedly fled. Police reportedly found partially burnt documents outside the office premises.
On Wednesday, a court remanded Bhattacharyya for six days in police custody.
Late on Tuesday night, Gobardanga police conducted raids at the residences of Trinamool leader and North 24-Parganas zilla parishad member Ajit and his brother Sujit in Maslandapur in connection with extortion complaints filed against them on May 24 by the CPM and the BJP as well as an old extortion complaint filed by an individual.
During preliminary investigation, officers reportedly found evidence — cash and arms — supporting the allegations, following which both were arrested from their residences.
"People in Maslandapur are happy. The terror that he (Ajit Saha) had unleashed for years is finally over and residents are celebrating his arrest,” local BJP leader Parthasarathi Mondal alleged.
The Trinamool Congress has not yet issued a statement on the three arrests.