A car with three Congress MLAs from Jharkhand was stopped at Howrah’s Panchla on Saturday evening by Bengal police and bags full of cash were allegedly found in its boot.
Police said the money was being carried from Calcutta to the neighbouring state. Till late night, officers said they were not sure about the exact amount found in the car. Bank officials were asked to turn up with machines for counting the notes, mostly of ₹500 denomination.
The police said the entire amount was in bags. “We are speaking to the three MLAs from Jharkhand to find out details about the cash found on them in the car,” said Swati Bhangalia, superintendent of police, Howrah (Rural).
Senior officers in Calcutta said an elected representative must be able to justify the amount found on him or her during a search operation.
This can either be in the form of receipts or any valid document justifying the cash, they said.
“The person should be able to justify the source of the amount and the purpose,” said an officer.
“It is the onus of the elected representative to justify the cash on him. The police will run a check and confirm.” Officers in Howrah said they had specific information that a car carrying a huge amount in cash would be travelling from Calcutta to Jharkhand through Panchla. A police team was set up at Panchla’s Ranihati More. Cops spotted the car and asked the driver to stop. A search was carried out and officers stumbled on the cash, they said.