By IANS,
Chennai : It was literally a load of cash – Rs.5.11 crore neatly stacked and covered with a tarpaulin sheet – that was seized from the roof-top of a parked bus in Tiruchirapalli district Tuesday. Ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly polls, election officials in the state have seized unaccounted cash amounting to Rs.22.68 crore and Rs.10.30 crore worth valuables so far.
Returning officer S. Sangeetha and her team seized the Rs.5.11 crore cash covered under the tarpaulin sheet from the top of a bus parked by the roadside in Pon Nagar in Tiruchirapalli.
The bus is registered in the name of Jayaraman in Perambalur district.
“I got a tip-off at 1.40 a.m. giving me the bus number and its location. I went there with my driver, Central Reserve Police Force personnel, a police sub-inspector and a villager at 2.15 a.m.,” Sangeetha told IANS on phone.
She said the bus was empty and “we found five bags carrying the cash under the tarpaulin sheet on the roof”.
She said the cash will be deposited in the treasury Wednesday.
According to her, investigation is on by the police about where the bus was heading, the purpose of the huge cash on the roof top, and from where the cash came.
In another incident, the poll officials had seized a consignment of 350 dhotis and as many sarees.
Speaking to reporters here, Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar said unaccounted cash amounting to Rs.22.68 crore and Rs.10.30 crore valuables have been seized by the flying squads till date across the state.
Tamil Nadu goes to polls April 13 to elect 234 legislators.