Kolkata, Nov. 4 -- Diamond Harbour Police District personnel recovered more than Rs 1 crore from a building in the Sarisha area following the interrogation of Sumit Roy, personal assistant to Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee.

While it was claimed that the building belonged to the party, MAITC denied the allegation, stating that the office had been handed back to its owner in May this year. Additional Superintendent of Police (Zonal) Avishek Majumder said at a Press conference on Wednesday that police conducted a raid in the Sarisha area after interrogating Roy, who is in police custody in connection with a case registered at Kalitala Ashuti P.S. The search led to the recovery of Rs 1,02,79,000 from a building. "Acting on a lead, we raided the office of a particular political party and recovered the money. The matter is under investigation. The office belonged to the TMC, but who operated it is yet to be verified," Majumder said.

Meanwhile, MAITC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in a post on X said that deliberate planting of fake and fabricated evidence at a property vandalised six months ago by BJP goons is a 'brazen attempt to subvert justice, manipulate the investigation and misuse the machinery of law'.

"The law will catch up with every individual involved, regardless of rank, position or political affiliation," he added.

MAITC spokesperson Arka Nag alleged that Roy was interrogated until 3 am on Wednesday before being taken to Sarisha without being informed of his destination. Nag claimed that Roy was taken to Diamond Harbour Women's University. "Roy told his lawyers that the police allegedly threatened him, saying that if he did not cooperate, they would be compelled to carry out a third encounter, as they had allegedly done in two previous cases," Nag said. He said the building was handed back to its owner, Aditya Halder, on May 21 following vandalism, and the party had informed the police in writing.

"What we are witnessing is a complete breakdown of democratic principles and the rule of law, and I strongly believe that this entire exercise is being carried out with the involvement of sections of the police administration and the political backing of BJP," Nag added.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.