Arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and former Mayor of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation Sabyasachi Dutta’s close aide Tina Bhowmik Saha has been absconding ever since police conducted a raid at her place and recovered gold ornaments weighing 3 kg on Tuesday.
Police sources say that the Nadia-based Zilla Parishad member, along with her husband, has not returned home since Monday. The couple were not present at their residence during the overnight search operation.
The Bidhannagar City police seized gold ornaments worth Rs 4 crore from Saha’s Tehatta residence in West Bengal’s Nadia district, acting on information obtained from Dutta.
The market value of the recovered gold exceeds Rs 4.39 crore. Dutta has claimed that the ornaments do not belong to him and refused to sign the seizure list prepared in connection with the recovery.
The police had previously recovered receipts for these purchases from Dutta’s Rajarhat flat and bank locker, as well as approximately 3.5 kg of gold. Police sources say a seizure list has been prepared and will be placed before the court.
Dutta has been arrested on multiple charges, including extortion and the accumulation of illegal assets.
The former Mayor was defeated by BJP’s Sankar Chatterjee from Barasat in the recently held assembly elections by a margin of 34,558 votes. His arrest and subsequent imprisonment came soon after his electoral defeat.
During the investigation, police have found that he had allegedly purchased large quantities of gold using proceeds from extortion and ‘black money.’
Subsequent inquiries revealed that Dutta may have also leveraged his influence to help his close associates to acquire gold.