I-T Dept seizes Rs 8cr unaccounted cash in NE

The Directorate of Income Tax Investigation has seized over Rs 8 crore in unaccounted cash in the north east till April 22, surpassing all previous records of such recovery in the region during the general elections, officials said on Monday.

The seizure amount is nearly seven times the previous haul of Rs 1.21 crore made by the I-T department during election expenditure monitoring in 2014, an official release said here.

"The limited manpower of about 150 officers was strategically deployed to set up an extensive network of surveillance units to cover 112 districts...," said Principal Director of Income Tax Investigation, NER, Sanjay Bahadur.

A special task force has also been constituted on Monday to investigate "thousands of suspicious high-value cash deposits and withdrawals in 68 banks" operating in the north east, the release said.

It will submit its preliminary findings within one month.

Preparations are in place for the third and final phase of polling in four Assam Parliamentary constituencies on Tuesday, which will decide the fate of 54 candidates in fray.