A lookout circular was issued on Tuesday against Sumit Roy, personal assistant to Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee, two days after a West Midnapore court allowed police to obtain a non-bailable arrest warrant against him.
West Midnapore police requested the Bureau of Immigration to issue the circular, alerting airports and other exit points to monitor and detain the accused.
A prayer for an arrest warrant against Roy was made before the court on Sunday after a team from Salboni police station failed to trace him during a search at Abhishek's Kalighat house on Saturday.
Senior officers of West Midnapore police said Roy's name surfaced during the interrogation of former Trinamool MLA Sujoy Hazra. He was arrested earlier this month for allegedly selling government land in Salboni using forged land deeds.
Investigators found that Hazra and Roy had financial transactions exceeding ₹1 crore. The probe began after a complaint was lodged at the Salboni police station alleging forgery and extortion by Hazra.
"The team that went to Abhishek's house wanted to get hold of Roy and question him about the alleged financial transaction. By evading the questioning, he now has an arrest warrant against him," a senior officer said.
"Roy's mobile tower locations indicated that he was at the Kalighat Road address and therefore the raid and the search operation," a police officer said.
With Roy untraced, the search operation at Abhishek's house ended with the police handing over a "nil" seizure report.