Kolkata: Three arrested with 1 crore cash with no valid documents

KOLKATA: Hours after chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asked the Kolkata and Bidhanagar Police commissioners to act against illegal money being smuggled into the city, Kolkata Police nabbed three persons and recovered over Rs 1 crore cash from them. Banerjee had claimed vehicles used by central forces were being used to ferry cash for BJP candidates
The cash was recovered after cops had carried out two raids at Burrabazar. This was the second time in less than 10 days that cash worth more than Rs 1 crore was seized from the central business district area. The total seizures, too, have crossed Rs 2.5 crore over the past 10 days.
In the first raid, the cops arrested two persons with Rs 65 lakh unaccounted cash. "Two persons, Kunal Kumar (29) and Rahul Kumar (27), were arrested from the first raid at Burabazaar," said joint CP (crime) Praveen Tripathi.
They were intercepted from Mir Bhahar Ghat Road-Strand Road crossing, said Lalbazar officers. "The cash was stashed in two bags. The cash, which was in different denominations, was counted in presence of local witnesses. When questioned about the money, the accused could not give a satisfactory answer or provide a valid document,"said Tripathi.
Police sources said an investigation is on to ascertain if these men are linked to the old chain of hawala cash carrier, one of whom was arrested by the GRP with Rs 1 crore at Asansol.
In the second raid, Mohan Agarwal (29), a resident of Bowbazar, was arrested from Strand Road for keeping unaccounted cash worth Rs 35.05 lakh in his posession. He, too, could not render a satisfactory explanation for keeping the money. "A case has been registered at the Burrabazar police station. We are presently verifying about the involvement of cash in the poll process," said joint CP Tripathi.