Karnataka polls: IT dept seizes Rs 10 crore cash

The Income Tax Department has seized Rs 20 crore cash from various parts of the country, including more than Rs 10 crore in election-bound Karnataka, over the last few days as part of its crackdown on currency hoarders, officials said today.

The ITD said unaccounted cash of Rs 4.01 crore and unaccounted 6.5 kg jewellery were seized during searches conducted against three contractors in Bengaluru, Davangere and Mysore yesterday following specific information.

Of this, cash of Rs 1.2 crore was found in a car after a hot pursuit, the ITD said in a statement.

The department had yesterday said that searches had led to the seizure of Rs 6.76 crore in cash, mainly from the benami lockers in Karnataka.

Thus, the total cash seized in these searches conducted over the last 2-3 days, as part of efforts to locate hoarded cash in various parts of the country, is Rs 20.14 crore, the statement said.

The ITD has also found evidence of inflation of purchases, payments to bogus sub contractors, inflated and fraudulent labour payments, and unaccounted cash payments in the searches in Karnataka.

The Assembly election in Karnataka will be held in a single phase on May 12. The counting of votes for the 224 elected seats in the Assembly is scheduled for May 15.