FIR against three over Rs 29.8L cash seizure in Garhwa

Daltonganj/Garhwa: The flying surveillance team (FST) of Palamu division, which has been constituted to keep a watch on unlawful activities during election season, lodged an FIR against three occupants of a vehicle which was seized with Rs 29.8 lakh in Chainpur on Wednesday.

FST head Kailash Oraon lodged the FIR in Chainpur police station against the trio — Shukuldeo Prajapati, Kedar Nath Prajapati and Murari Yadav.

All three are residents of Garhwa district. At the time of its seizure , the vehicle had BJP flags on it. The district’s police department was tight-lipped about the action being taken on the issue. “Income tax officials are investigating the case,” SDPO Sandip Kumar Gupta said, declining to divulge more details.

In Garhwa, the opposition camp cried foul and sought an unbiased probe. They claimed that the money was on its way to Garhwa to assist BJP candidate S N Tiwari’s election campaigning ahead of the November 30 polls.

While Tiwari did not respond to repeated calls, his opponent, JMM’s Mithilesh Kumar Thakur, claimed that the cash seizure exposed BJP’s tactic of luring voters through money. “Tiwari’s candidature must be cancelled at once as it is a violation of the model code of conduct,” Thakur said.

In Palamu, BJP’s national general secretary Arun Singh distanced himself from the controversy and said: “The people who were carrying the cash must tell the probing team about the source of the money and its purpose.” Singh, however, retorted when pointed out that the vehicle had BJP flags on it at the time of its seizure by Chainpur police. “Where is the problem? Government officials have seized the cash. An investigation is on. One cannot jump to any conclusion,” he added.

JMM’s central leadership in Ranchi lashed out at the BJP over the seizure. “The seized SUV was cleared for campaigning by Garhwa’s election officials on the basis of an application filed by Tiwari’s election manager Shashimani Pandey. When the EC has mandated that a candidate cannot spend more than Rs 28 lakh on campaigning, the seizure of close to Rs 30 lakh from a vehicle gives a sense of how much unaccounted money is being spent by BJP to lure voters in Garhwa,” JMM principal general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said.