About Rs 37 lakh recovered from two BJP leaders during raid

Kolkata: In two separate incidents of unaccounted money recovery, about Rs 37 lakh were seized from two BJP leaders on Sunday in Kharagpur and Hooghly.

Sources said, on Sunday, after a few hours of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public meeting in Kharagpur, police, along with Election Commission officials, were conducting raids at the lodges and hotels located beside the national highway in Sahachalk area under jurisdiction of Kharagpur Rural Police Station.

During the raid around 10 pm, cops found Rs 35 lakh from the possession of BJP leader Samit Mondal who was staying there. During preliminary investigation, BJP leaders reportedly claimed that the cash was given to them from the BJP state committee office for election purposes in the several districts which were kept with them. However, they failed to provide any document to substantiate their claim. Accordingly, Mondal was taken into custody and the information of the money seizure was conveyed to the Income Tax department as well.

Meanwhile, on Sunday night while police were conducting naka checking at Harit area of Dadpur in Hooghly, cops intercepted the car of the BJP leader identified as

Swaraj Ghosh. During the search of the car, police found Rs 2 lakh cash and two firearms. Ghosh, during questioning, reportedly failed to produce any document in support of the money. Though he reportedly has the licence for the two firearms, failed to provide the special permission that needed to be obtained for carrying those during the election period.