Rs 2.24 crore and counting: Cash stash found buried near TMC leader's farmhouse

Earlier this week, residents of Baduria in West Bengal grew suspicious after spotting vans moving goods out of a Trinamool Congress (TMC) office under darkness. After being tipped off, the police raided the office and a nearby farmhouse that allegedly belonged to Baduria municipality chairperson Dipankar Bhattacharya. The searches led police to a shocking discovery - crores of rupees in cash buried in a jute field. The recovered amount has already crossed Rs 2.24 crore, with counting continuing through the night and still underway.

The drama began on May 24 after locals spotted the unusual late-night activity. As the police conducted searches at the TMC party office and the farmhouse, around 4,000 tarpaulin sheets allegedly meant for relief distribution by the government were recovered. Around Rs 80 lakh in cash was also found at the municipal chairperson's farmhouse, according to local media reports. Partially burnt documents were also found outside the office.

HOW CASH STASH WAS FOUND UNDER JUTE FIELD?

However, Bhattacharya and his aides had already fled by then. A full-scale probe was launched after the BJP lodged a formal complaint against Bhattacharya on Monday. Throughout the day, Bhattacharya managed to evade the police. His luck ran out on Tuesday after he was arrested at a hotel.

He was eventually produced in court, which sent him to police custody. It was during interrogation that Bhattacharya revealed the cash buried in the jute field behind his residence.

A large-scale operation was launched with sniffer dogs and drone cameras. After several hours of digging, what the police found left them dumbfounded. Bundles of Rs 500 notes and gold were found tightly packed inside trolley bags and sacks.

Visuals that went viral on social media showed cops carrying sacks on their shoulders through the field as digging continued. A massive crowd gathered near the jute field.

In fact, machines had to be brought in to count the cash stash. After counting throughout Wednesday night, the amount stood at Rs 2.24 crore. Officials estimate it could go up to Rs 3 crore.

Some sacks of cash were also found at a computer training centre located right next to Bhattacharya's residence. Locals said the centre was run by Bhattacharya.

The development has led to questions about how a municipality chairperson amassed such massive sums of money. The BJP has alleged that it came from extortion and siphoning off housing scheme funds.

CRISIS DEEPENS FOR TRINAMOOL

Bengal minister Dilip Ghosh took a swipe at the TMC over the incident. "Not everyone is Partha Chatterjee who can keep money in his girlfriend's flat. Many in Trinamool have made so much money that they don't even know where to store it," Ghosh told the media.

In 2022, around Rs 50 crore in cash and gold were recovered from two flats of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of then Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee. The recovery was made during a raid conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the school jobs scam.

Since the Trinamool was routed by the BJP around three weeks ago in the Bengal elections, arrests of party councillors and MLAs have been a regular feature.

Earlier this week, a Trinamool leader, Ajit Saha, known to be a close aide of former minister Jyotipriya Mallick, and his brother were arrested. It followed the seizure of a 7mm pistol, an airgun, a large cache of ammunition and Rs 27 lakh in cash during a raid at their residence in Gobardanga. Around 52 bottles of liquor were also recovered.

The developments and growing internal dissent within the TMC have the party facing its gravest crisis in nearly two decades. With nearly 100 councillors resigning over the past week, the TMC also appears to be teetering on the edge of an organisational collapse.