The Bidhannagar City police seized gold ornaments worth Rs 4 crore from arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and former Mayor of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation Sabyasachi Dutta’s close aide’s house in Tehatta in West Bengal’s Nadia district in an overnight operation.
Acting on an information obtained from the arrested TMC leader, the Bidhannagar City Police conducted an overnight search on Monday, accompanied by Dutta, and recovered approximately 3 kg of gold jewellery from Tina Bhowmik Saha, a member of the Nadia Zilla Parishad.
Sources indicate that the market value of the recovered gold is around Rs 4 crore.
Investigators had previously recovered receipts for these purchases from Dutta’s Rajarhat flat and bank locker, along with approximately 3.5 kg of gold.
According to police sources, the ornaments have been confiscated and an investigation has been initiated.
A seizure list has also been prepared and will be placed before the court, they said. Sources also indicate that this seizure will be attached with Dutta’s case of extortion.
Earlier this month, Dutta was arrested by the Bidhannagar South Police on multiple charges, including extortion and the accumulation of illegal assets.
The former Mayor had contested the recently held assembly elections from Barasat but was defeated by BJP’s Sankar Chatterjee by a margin of 34,558 votes. His arrest and subsequent imprisonment came soon after his defeat.
During the investigation into his Dutta’s assets, police have found that he had allegedly purchased large quantities of gold using proceeds from extortion and ‘black money.’
Subsequent inquiries revealed that he had not only purchased gold for himself but had also leveraged his influence to help his close associates to acquire gold.