A massive cash recovery linked to Baduria Municipality chairman Dipankar Bhattacharya has triggered a fresh political storm in West Bengal, ruling party BJP once again accusing the former Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of allowing corruption to flourish during the tenure of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Police on Thursday confirmed that Rs 2.24 crore was recovered after officers dug up a field allegedly linked to the municipal chief. The counting process, which began on Wednesday evening, continued throughout the night in the presence of bank officials and senior administrative personnel. After four rounds of counting, investigators officially confirmed the amount early Thursday morning.
The recovery comes just days after Bhattacharya was arrested from a hotel in connection with an ongoing investigation. At the time of his arrest on Monday, police had already seized nearly Rs 80 lakh in cash. A court later sent him to six days of police custody.
According to investigators, Bhattacharya was taken by police on Wednesday to a plot of land near a local Trinamool Congress office in Baduria. During the search operation, officers dug up a section of the jute field and recovered several bags filled with cash buried underground. Eyewitnesses claimed that bundles of Rs 500 notes were packed inside the bags. Police reportedly recovered four trolley bags and one sack stuffed with currency notes.
Due to the huge volume of cash, counting machines had to be used to verify the amount. Initially, officials estimated the recovery at around Rs 80 lakh, but the complete counting process later revealed that the amount exceeded Rs 2 crore.
Earlier, after Bhattacharya’s arrest, police had also recovered around 4,000 government tarpaulins and cash from an abandoned computer centre operated by the Baduria Municipality. Investigators are now trying to determine the source of the recovered money and whether government welfare funds were siphoned off.
The incident has intensified allegations of widespread corruption during the previous Trinamool Congress administration in West Bengal. Political opponents have alleged that corruption became deeply entrenched during Mamata Banerjee’s years in power, with repeated controversies involving public funds and welfare schemes surfacing over time.
Recruitment scams in the education sector, allegations related to ration distribution, coal smuggling, cattle smuggling, cut-money collections, and extortion rackets had repeatedly put the former TMC government under scrutiny.
Critics argue that the Baduria case reflects a broader pattern in which local political leaders allegedly misused government schemes and development funds for personal enrichment. Questions are now being raised over how such enormous amounts of unaccounted cash could remain hidden while many citizens struggled to access housing benefits and essential public services.
Some local residents have alleged that money intended for housing schemes may have been diverted, while others suspect the cash was generated through extortion and political influence. Police, however, have not yet confirmed the exact source of the recovered money and said the investigation remains ongoing.
The latest recovery has once again brought the legacy of the former Mamata Banerjee administration under political scrutiny, with rival parties demanding a deeper investigation into the financial dealings of former Trinamool leaders and local municipal authorities.
Police officials said all recovered cash has been seized and further investigations are underway to determine whether more individuals were involved in the alleged network.
