By IANS,
Bellary (Karnataka) : Police Thursday seized a total of Rs.4.1 million (Rs.41 lakh) in this mining town from two people who were detained for failing to account for the cash they were carrying in violation of the model code of conduct for May 5 assembly election.
“We have detained the duo – Ashok Kumar, 41, and Chetan, 26, for carrying cash beyond the permissible limit of Rs.50,000 without supporting documents and failing to explain the source of the amounts seized,” Bellary’s Superintendent of Police S.P. Singh told IANS here, about 300km from Bangalore.
Ashok, a fruit vendor was the first accused police intercepted in the town and detained for carrying Rs.3.3 million (Rs.33 lakh) cash hidden in cardboard cartons that were packed with grapes.
The second accused Chetan, a small-time trader, was detained at the check post on the inter-state border with Andhra Pradesh when he failed to explain the source of Rs.8 lakh cash he was carrying in a bag.
“We have registered cases against the accused under section 102 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and section 198 of the Karnataka Police Act as they were carrying cash beyond the permissible limit without documents,” Singh said.
Police suspect that the seized cash was intended for distributing to voters during electioneering for the ensuing single-phase poll in the district, which has eight assembly segments, including one each reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
“We are interrogating the accused to ascertain whose money they were carrying and where from they got such huge amounts, which are in violation of the poll code,” Singh said.
Police also roped in the income tax officials to investigate the cases and find out to whom the cash belongs to.
Bellary shot into notorious fame during the five-year rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since June 2008 for being at the centre of the multi-crore mining scam and export of iron ore.
Its lawmaker and former minister Gali Janardhana Reddy has been jailed since September 2011 for allegedly being involved in the illegal mining and export of iron ore from the district.