The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal police on Sunday seized ₹1.39 lakh from the house of a fish trader at Gazole in the State’s Malda district. The CID arrested trader Joy Prakash Saha and took him to the local police station. According to CID officials the raid was conducted in connection with a drug-smuggling case. The police was investigating a case involving cross-border smuggling of Phensedyl, a codeine-based cough syrup. The smuggling of Phensedyl from India to Bangladesh poses a challenge to the border guarding the forces and the police.
The seizure of huge cash in Malda is one of the series of many such seizures in the State in the past few months. On September 2, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seized ₹80 lakh in cash from the residence of Trinamool Congress leader and chairman of Halisahar Municipality. The chairman Raju Sahani was arrested by the CBI in connection with cattle smuggling scam.
On Sunday the CBI held searches at the properties of the Trinamool Congress MLA from Bijpur Subodh Adhikari. Raids by the CBI were held at seven places during the day.
The Enforcement Directorate had in July seized about ₹50 crore in cash and jewellery worth ₹4.5 crore from the properties of Arpita Mukherjee, an aide of former Minister Partha Chatterjee. Mr. Chatterjee and his aide are behind bars for their alleged involvement in school service commission recruitment scam.
