23 October,2024 12:40 PM IST | Pune | mid-day online correspondent
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With weeks to go for the Maharashtra assembly elections 2024, a team of the Election Commission confiscated Rs 22.90 lakh from a trader in Maharashtra's Pune, police said, reported news agency ANI.
The cash was seized by the Static Surveillance Team (SST) in Pune's Hadapsar area on October 22, prompting the authorities to notify the Income Tax department to probe further.
A Pune Police official said, "A Static Surveillance Team (SST) in Pune's Hadapsar area confiscated Rs 22.90 lakh from a trader identified as Baktumal Sukheja a resident of Daund Tahseel of Pune district on 22nd October," reported ANI.
Sukheja claimed he was heading to deposit the funds at a bank in the APMC market yard when he was intercepted by the Election Commission's team during a nakabandi operation, the official added, reported ANI.
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The SST seized the cash at Manjaru Phata on Solapur Road and promptly notified the Income Tax department for further probe, they added.
This comes after the Pune Rural Police seized Rs 5 crore from a car at the Khed Shivapur toll during a nakabandi conducted on the late evening of Monday, reported ANI.
Following the seizure, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) had expressed concern over transparency ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections 2024.
"It is clear that if it is someone from the ruling party, then no one will ever know. We have already said that if the Election Commission is neutral, then it will be known; if it is not, then everyone will start making the same conjectures you made," Aaditya Thackeray told reporters in Mumbai on October 22.
The Maharashtra assembly elections 2024 are scheduled for November 20, with the counting for all 288 assembly constituencies to be held on November 23.
In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena secured 56, and Congress won 44 seats. In 2014, the BJP won 122 seats, Shiv Sena secured 63, and Congress won 42 seats.
Meanwhile, amid the model code of conduct enforced in Maharashtra for the November 20 assembly polls, the Pune rural police on Monday evening seized Rs 5 crore from a car near Khed-Shivapur plaza on Mumbai-Bengaluru highway during a nakabandi (on-road checking).
(With inputs from ANI)
