The Maharashtra Police has firmed over ₹3.70 crore of unaccounted cash from a van in Palghar district ahead of assembly elections scheduled on 20 November.
The cash was seized by the police on Friday in a coastal part of the district-Wada area while it was under the police surveillance of its flying squad. Speaking to Police Inspector Datta Kindre, the authorities got prior information of a van supposedly transporting huge bundles of cash and this was indeed stopped on time.
When the police got the van stopped, they searched it and found out that ₹3,70,50,000 was being moved in the van without any legal soft copies. None of the people in the van, including the driver and the security personnel, produced any relevant papers as to why they were transporting such a huge amount of cash.
They said that the money was being sent from a company in Navi Mumbai to Vikramgad in Palghar but could not provide evidence to back this claim.
Therefore, the police arrested the accused and deposited the money, saying that the amount had been seized in order to inform the Income Tax Department and the election authorities. The misfortune happens when there is a Model Code of Conduct in force, which is strictly implemented during the elections so as to see that money, power, etc, are not brought into play.
The two people in the van have been arrested and questioned, and the police are investigating further to see if there was something criminal or an election violation conducted. The event has increased suspicion of electoral malpractice, which forces authorities to increase security measures when holding elections.
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