Kolkata: Cash worth more than Rs 2.3 crore, around 50 grams of gold, four cars and other valuables were seized from a G plus 3 building in New Town during a nearly 12-hour overnight raid by Bidhannagar Police, leading to the arrest of seven people, including a woman, in a case investigators suspect could be linked to an interstate hawala network and a cyber fraud syndicate.Following a tip off, the operation, carried out jointly by the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime police station, detective department and Techno City police, began on Monday evening at the AA Block address near Tank No. 20, close to Karigari Bhavan. The search continued till Tuesday morning as officials used six currency-counting machines to verify the cash recovered from multiple sacks found inside the premises.Police said the seizure included Rs 2,27,85,000 in cash. All seven arrested persons are residents of Punjab and Gujarat. Investigators said the accused claimed they had rented the guest house but failed to produce any rent agreement during questioning.According to investigators, the building was first cordoned off before officers began searching individual rooms. They allegedly found sack after sack stuffed with bundles of cash, prompting police to summon bank officials and currency-counting machines to complete the overnight exercise.The source of the money remains under investigation. Police are probing whether the premises was being used as the operational base of a Jamtara-style cyber fraud racket, a fake call centre or as a transit point for routing illegal funds through hawala channels. Investigators suspect the cash may have been brought into West Bengal from other states for laundering.Police are also examining whether the operation has links to a larger interstate or international syndicate and if influential individuals were involved.The ownership of the four seized cars is also being verified. Police said further arrests are likely as they trace the money trail and analyse digital and financial evidence recovered during the raid.
