Acting on a specific tip-off, the West Bengal Police on Saturday detained three Congress MLAs from Jharkhand and seized bundles of currency notes from a vehicle they were travelling in.
The vehicle apparently belonged to Jamtara MLA Irfan Ansari, sources said, adding other two MLAs travelling in the same vehicle were Rajesh Kacchhap and Naman Biksal.
The black SUV in which the notes were found was intercepted near Panchla Police Station in Howrah district even as it was running past the Durgapur Express Way connecting Kolkata and Jharkhand.
The incident comes days after the Enforcement Directorate arrested Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee and his associate Arpita from whose appartments it recovered more than Rs 50 crore.
The three MLAs were presently being questioned at Panchla Police Station, Howrah Rural SP said, adding counting machines were being brought in to count the notes which could go beyond one crore mark. Meanwhile, even as the Congress leadership said the MLAs if founed guilty should be dealt with severely, State Trinamool Congress spokesperson Debangshu Bhattacharya said the notes could be connected to BJP’s plans to topple Jharkhand Government by purchasing the Congress MLAs.