Indian
Express: Kolkata: Wednesday, 19 August 2015.
The recovery
of Rs 21 crore from the modest home of a sub-assistant engineer of Bally
municipality in West Bengal could lead to more “skeletons tumbling out of the
closet”, investigators say.
Anti-Corruption
Bureau officials of the West Bengal government, who made the discovery at the
home of Pranab Adhikary while probing a disproportionate assets case, say the
engineer was the “custodian of money” for a syndicate comprising politicians,
municipal officials and real estate operators.
Investigators
claim the discovery is linked to the “corrupt” Left regime in the Bally
municipal board, which had been in power for 38 years from 1977 to June 2015,
when it finally merged with the Howrah Municipal Corporation. Significantly,
from 1977 to 2010, the Bally municipal board did not have even a single
Opposition councillor in any of its 35 wards.
ABC officials
said the CPM chairman of the municipal board in Bally, Arunava Lahiri, as well
as other officials are likely to be examined. The Enforcement Directorate could
take up investigation in the money trail and may also summon officials of the
outgoing board. The CPM chairman of Bally, meanwhile, maintains he is being
framed for “political reasons”.
The original
complainant in the case was filed by a small-time promoter in Bally, A P Singh.
Singh had told investigators that Bally municipal authorities ignored his
complaint that Adhikary was allegedly demanding Rs 1.5 lakh per cottah for his
real estate project on a 13 cottah plot of land. The demand was for Rs 20 lakh,
while Singh reportedly paid Rs 11 lakh and wanted the plan to be passed.
According to
investigators, the cash recovery is indicative of the the nexus between
municipal officials, engineers and politicians capitalising on the real estate
boom in this region. The Rs 21 crore, investigators say, could be a fraction of
the money that allegedly changes hands before real estate projects get a
sanction from the municipal board.
It is
estimated that about 2,500 building plans were sanctioned between 1990 and 2010 a period which saw the real estate boom in Bally-Howrah-Liluah-Belur belt under the Left regime. That the projects are based on the banks of river Ganga
make them lucrative to buyers.
But the
development has come at a cost. According to one estimate, over 500 ponds have
disappeared in Bally because of real estate projects.
TMC’s Riaz
Ahmed, who was the first Opposition councillor to win in Bally in 2010, says he
had submitted an RTI to the Bally municipality asking for answers to 20
questions on the number of illegal buildings, filling up of ponds, encroachment
of government property, etc. Ahmed says the RTI was stonewalled and he was
asked to deposit Rs 50,000 for the information.
Meanwhile,
Pranab and his 22-year-old son Tanmoy arrested for allegedly assaulting
officials during the raid have been remanded in police custody for 12 days.
Police also claim to have recovered a “diary and note pad” in the raids. This,
sources said, contains the list of people with whom Pranab conducted financial
transactions.
An official
press release said “investigation is proceeding to see the involvement of other
persons, if any”.
When
contacted, ACB AGD Ramphal Pawar said he could not reveal more information at
this stage.
CPM state
general secretary Surya Kanta Mishra, meanwhile, demanded a “fair
investigation” in the case. “Even if we know that under the present government,
police administration is always used for political gains, the probe should
bring the real culprits to book,” said Mishra.
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