Ahead Of Lok Sabha Polls, Karnataka Police Seize Rs 5.6 Crore Cash, 106 Kg Jewellery In Bellary

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Karnataka Police seized Rs 5.60 crore of unaccounted cash along with gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 2 crore in Bellary.

Acting on a tip-off, the police raided the house of Hema Jewellers’ owner in Kambali Bazaar on Sunday. The total recovery, from the owner’s — Naresh Soni — home, was worth Rs 7.6 crore, police sources said.

Other than the unaccounted cash, police seized 3 kg of gold, 103 kg of silver jewellery and 68 silver bars. Soni was taken into custody for questioning.

Police suspect the recovery to be linked to Hawala transactions. An FIR under section 98 of the Karnataka Police Act has been registered. Reportedly, the findings of their investigation will be handed over to the Income Tax department for further probe.

Last week, Karnataka Excise department had seized liquor worth Rs 98.52 crore from Nanjangud in Mysuru district ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Nanjangud falls under Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituency, the Election Commission (ECI) said. The Income Tax department and the Static Surveillance Team (SST) had also seized cash worth Rs 3.53 crore.

According to the EC, 1.22 crore litres of beer worth Rs 98.52 crore was seized from the constituency. The I-T department seized Rs 2.20 crore from Bengaluru North parliamentary constituency and SST seized Rs 35 lakh during checking in Gulbarga and Rs 45 lakh in Udupi-Chikkamagaluru.

The Lok Sabha elections will be held in two phases in Karnataka on April 26 and May 7.

(With PTI inputs)