KOLKATA: As much as Rs 22 crore in cash hidden under the floor, sofa sets and beds, in cisterns in toilets and on false ceilings in the rooms. This unprecedented seizure from the house of a sub-assistant engineer of Bali Municipality in Howrah district has created a flutter in West Bengal.
Not just money, gold and diamonds weighing several kg were among the items seized by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the state police during a raid conducted in the early hours of Saturday. Subsequently, sub-assistant engineer Pranab Adhikary and his son were arrested.
The engineer was in charge of approving building plans submitted to the municipality. Over the last several years, the real estate market in the area has bloomed with shopping malls and multiplexes coming up.
“Wherever we knocked, bundles of cash in polythene bags tumbled out. Two currency counting machines were brought and throughout the night counting was done. Even then, we could not finish it. Several kg of gold and diamond jewellery were also seized,” a police official said.
Anti-Corruption Branch ADG Ramfal Pawar said investigations were on to ascertain whether the engineer earned such huge amounts of cash as bribes or whether he was a frontman of any syndicate connected to organised crime.