Kolkata, 03 August (H.S.): The recovery of huge amounts of cash in West Bengal continued with the seizure of Rs 24,097,380 in cash, nearly 20 grams of gold and a laptop from a flat in Malda district. Police have arrested three persons in connection with the case and also seized 9,000 bottles of banned cough syrup from a warehouse during the operation.

According to police, a raid was conducted on Sunday night at a flat in the Mangalbari area under Malda Police Station. The recovered cash was counted using three currency-counting machines, a process that continued until the early hours of Monday. During the same operation, a search was carried out at a warehouse in the Khaihatta area, where 9,000 bottles of banned cough syrup were recovered.

The arrested accused have been identified as Pintu Sarkar, Gopal Chaki and Sushanta Halder, all residents of the Malda Police Station area.

Police said the operation was based on leads obtained during the interrogation of four accused arrested last month in South Dinajpur after the seizure of around 1,500 bottles of banned cough syrup from the Mehendripara area. Acting on those inputs, a joint team of the South Dinajpur and Malda district police carried out the raids.

Investigators said the building where the cash was recovered is owned by Dilip Saha, while the third-floor flat had been rented by Pintu Sarkar. According to the police, the entire cash haul was recovered from that flat. Preliminary inquiries suggest that Pintu Sarkar is associated with the pharmaceutical trade, although his alleged involvement in the illegal cough syrup trafficking network is still under investigation.

The latest seizure comes close on the heels of the recovery of Rs 285 million in cash and 15 kilograms of gold from the residence of a relative of a businessman said to be close to Anubrata Mondal in Birbhum district. Even before that case had subsided, the fresh recovery in Malda has once again raised questions over illegal trade and the source of unaccounted money.

Police are continuing their investigation to determine the source of the seized cash, its possible links to the banned cough syrup trafficking racket, and the involvement of other members of the suspected network.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh