Maharashtra elections 2024: Rs 1.05 crore cash seized from car in Nanded district

The Nanded police are confirming if the amount of cash belongs to anybody and which was it intended to reach, a senior police officer told on Tuesday.

The Nanded Police in Maharashtra on Tuesday recovered Rs 1.05 crore cash from a car in the Nanded district amid the model code of conduct for the state Maharashtra Assemble election 2024 next month, an official said, 

A police team had intercepted the four-wheeler at a check post in the Bhagyanagar area of Nanded and found cash in the vehicle, the official said.

"As much as we are ascertaining the source of money and where it was taken, we have also coordinated with the bank," Abinash Kumar, the Nanded Superintendent of Police.

The elections to 288-member Maharashtra assembly would be held on November 20, and counting of votes would take place on November 23, according to PTI.

The incident comes days after Mumbai Police had recovered Rs 20 lakh in cash from a car in the Chembur area of the city and had detained at least five people for questioning last week on Friday.

"During a checkpoint in the Chembur area of Mumbai, police found Rs 20 lakh in cash from a car. After the cash was recovered, the Tilak Nagar police in Mumbai also contacted the Income Tax Department," a police statement had earlier said.

In the state of Maharashtra, it has been implemented with election dates. This code clearly states that if cash of an amount more than Rs 50,000 is being transported, then proper documents need to be presented; on the other hand, in case of the amount less than that, no such document is required.

Mumbai Police had seized Rs 1.32 crore in cash from five persons at south Mumbai during the enforcement of the election code of conduct for the Maharashtra assembly polls, an official said on Sunday.

The police said that they received inputs that five persons were taking bags with cash at Bhoiwada in Bhuleshwar Bazaar on Saturday and a trap was laid.

The official said that videographing the seizure and bringing the five suspects for further action to VP Road police station was done by a flying squad deployed by the Election Commission and police. The bags contained Rs 1.32 crore, he said, adding that the amount was handed over to the Income Tax department.

Earlier, the Pune rural police had confiscated cash of Rs 5 crore in total from a car at a time when the model code of conduct was in effect in Maharashtra for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024, as news agency PTI reports.

The unaccounted money was confiscated on Monday night near Khed-Shivapur plaza on the highway connecting Mumbai and Bengaluru during a police nakabandi (on-road checking), the official mentioned.

"A car moving towards Satara was intercepted during nakabandi. A search led to the seizure of Rs 5 crore cash from the four occupants of the vehicle. The money is being counted by police and district election officials. A probe into the source of the cash and other details is underway," the Pune rural police official said.