Purulia police have frozen a house, land, motorcycle and bank funds worth more than Rs 41 lakh belonging to an accused in an illegal poppy-straw trade case in Baghmundi, marking the second financial investigation carried out by the district police under the state government’s direction.
The action was carried out on Thursday at Kunchi Sarjamhatu in Baghmundi within 48 hours of the Purulia police receiving the state order, according to the report. Legally, the properties cannot be sold, transferred or otherwise disposed of while the legal process is under way.
Purulia Superintendent of Police Kumar Sani Raj visited the accused’s residence and oversaw the action. Notices were placed on two of the frozen properties in the presence of the police superintendent. Additional Superintendent of Police (Operations) Bidyagar Ajinkya Anant and Jhalda Sub-Divisional Police Officer Gaurav Ghosh were also present, the district police said.
The case relates to the seizure of 260.677 kg of poppy straw in a Baghmundi police station case registered on June 8 this year. The police have not identified the accused in the supplied report. The property action has been taken under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
According to information from Purulia district police, the house in Kunchi village has been valued at Rs 31,57,508. The accused’s 8-decimal plot in Paramtikar mouza, along with an old structure on it, has been valued at Rs 6,46,250. A motorcycle and Rs 3,22,710 held in a bank account have also been frozen.
The individual values cited by the police add up to more than Rs 41 lakh. The freeze prevents transactions involving the identified assets during the legal proceedings, but it does not by itself establish the accused’s guilt in the narcotics case. The report says the action forms part of a financial investigation accompanying the criminal case.
Police Superintendent Kumar Sani Raj said the state chief minister had directed that property-freezing measures be taken alongside legal action in different criminal cases. “We are carrying out that work,” he was quoted as saying.
The move is the second such financial investigation by Purulia district police since the change of government, according to the report. The first cited instance involved a fraud case in Adra, a railway town in the district. The latest action extends the financial-investigation approach to a narcotics case in Baghmundi, where restrictions have now been placed on both immovable and movable assets.
The notices issued at the properties and the freeze on the bank funds are intended to preserve the assets while the legal process continues. The supplied report does not specify the next court hearing, the authority that will ultimately decide the disposition of the assets, or whether any further properties are under review.
