Kolkata, Aug 21 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday hinted at siphoning off funds of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) during the Left Front regime.

"Kolkata Municipal Corporation gives allowances like old age allowance to 1, 87,000 people. I told the mayor (Sovan Chatterjee) to pay the allowances through the bank as that would be a test of authenticity. He gave report in two months that there was no trace of 50,000 people," said Banerjee while addressing a programme here.

"These people were given Rs.700. Where did the money go?"

"After coming to power, I came to know that lot of political activists get allowance for participating in political movements. I made enquiries in four cases. I saw none of them existed. Now the allowance for each is Rs.3,000 per month. It is the government money going," said Banerjee.

Reacting to the allegation, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader and former mayor Bikash Bhattacharya said the beneficiaries of allowances like old age allowances are decided by the councillors.

"The Trinamool has been in power for over one year in the KMC. What has it done so far about this?"

In the just concluded assembly elections, Banerjee and her party Trinamool Congress dethroned the Left Front after its 34 years of uninterrupted rule.

Banerjee, during her election campaign, had repeatedly promised that all the financial irregularities during the left regime - both at the state level and KMC level - will be thoroughly investigated.