The West Bengal police have recovered several bags filled with cash buried under the ground at a farmland linked to arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Baduria Municipality chairman Dipankar Bhattacharya in North 24 Parganas district. As per reports, currency notes amounting to over ₹2.24 crore have been recovered from a jute field adjacent to his farmhouse in Batuldanga.
The recovery was made on Wednesday, 27th May, after police took Bhattacharya to the farmland during interrogation in connection with corruption and irregularity charges. According to police sources, Bhattacharya had told investigators that more cash was hidden beneath the soil on the property.
Cash was recovered after the digging operation
Police officials carried out a digging operation at the farmland and recovered four trolley bags and one sack stuffed with bundles of ₹500 notes. Visuals from the spot showed officers carrying bags full of currency notes after the excavation.
Basirhat, West Bengal: The police arrested Baduria Municipality Chairman Dipankar Bhattacharya on charges of embezzlement of funds from various state government projects. After producing him before the court and interrogating him in custody, the police recovered a large amount of… pic.twitter.com/osfFyMtskD
— IANS (@ians_india) May 27, 2026
Officials said the counting process went through the whole night, and it was still going on. ₹2.24 crore has been counted so far, and the amount it set to go up.
This comes just days after police had already recovered nearly ₹80 lakh in cash from Bhattacharya when he was arrested from a hotel on Monday night, 25th May. He was later presented before a district court, which sent him to police custody.
Relief materials were also seized
The investigation widened after police recovered around 4,000 government tarpaulins from a local TMC office in Baduria and a farmhouse connected to Bhattacharya. The tarpaulins were reportedly meant for poor families affected by natural disasters.
Residents in the area claimed that government relief supplies were being stored illegally instead of being distributed among needy people. Some locals also reported suspicious movement near a TMC office in the Pura area late at night. According to them, loaded vehicles were seen moving goods from the office while some people were burning documents outside the premises.
After receiving information from locals, police conducted raids at the party office, Bhattacharya’s farmhouse, and a computer training centre located next to his residence. More cash and relief materials were recovered during the searches.
Corruption charges against Dipankar Bhattacharya
Police said complaints of corruption against Bhattacharya had been surfacing for a long time. Two separate complaints were filed against him, one by the CPI(M) and another by the BJP.
Investigators are currently probing two major accusations against the municipal chairman. The first relates to taking commissions in connection with allotments under the “Banglar Bari” housing scheme launched during the previous Trinamool Congress government. The second involves claims of extortion from residents and traders in Baduria.
Police sources said Bhattacharya had tried to avoid arrest for several hours before he was finally traced to a secret location and taken into custody.
Political reactions intensify
The recovery of huge amounts of cash has triggered a political storm in the state. BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh said the incident exposed the scale of corruption during the previous Trinamool Congress regime.
“If so much cash can be recovered from a municipality chairman, one can imagine the amount of money earned by bigger leaders and former ministers,” Ghosh said.
The investigation is still underway, and police are continuing to verify the total amount of money recovered from the farmland and other linked properties.
