Rs 1 crore in cash seized from Dilip Ghosh's PA in Asansol, 2 arrested

Kolkata: Goutam Chattopadhyay, who claimed to be the personal assistant of BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, was arrested along with his associate from Asansol railway station late on Sunday night for carrying unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore inside a bag.

Both of them, in the face of police interrogation, said that they were bringing the huge amount of cash from Delhi and the money was supposed to be distributed among the voters ahead of the final phase of elections in the state. Chattopadhyay claimed himself to be Ghosh's personal assistant during the police interrogation.

The incident seemed to have validated Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's claim who on repeated occasions accused the BJP leaders of distributing money among the people.

During a recent rally, Banerjee had asserted that the Election Commission and police must check the cars of all leaders irrespective of their political affiliations. She also demanded surveillance of the vehicles of top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She also made it clear that she would not mind if the police check her vehicle along with others.

It was learnt that Ghosh's personal assistant Chattopadhyay, along with his associate Laxmikanta Shaw, was carrying a bag containing cash of Rs 1 crore at Asansol railway station on late Sunday night. They were loitering aimlessly on platform number 5 of the railway station when they were intercepted by the railway police. They found the cash and detained the duo for interrogation. As they failed to come up with any convincing answers, they were arrested. The matter was informed to the Income Tax department.

Trinamool Congress leaders in the state have repeatedly alleged that BJP made money out of demonetisation and they were using the same in the elections to influence the voters. When media persons threw questions on them while being taken to court, one of them maintained that the money belonged to the BJP and they were bringing it for distributing among the voters.

The duo was remanded to four days' police custody after being produced before a court in Asansol on Monday. A probe is underway in the trail of 'ill-gotten money'. Turn to P7