Telangana Assembly Elections: Rs 7.51 Crore Hawala Cash Seized Before Polls

Hyderabad, November 7: 'Hawala' cash to the tune of Rs 7.51 crore, intended for bribing voters, was seized and four people were arrested here Wednesday, in a major haul ahead of the December 7 assembly elections in Telangana, police said. The cash was seized from different locations in a joint operation carried out by various wings of the city police and the Static Surveillance Team, Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar told reporters here.

Four hawala operators were arrested, he said adding the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate were being informed so that they can examine the trail of the financial transactions and involvement of shell companies in routing the cash.

The four operators were planning to distribute crores of rupees in Telangana and this money was coming from other states and probably from abroad through hawala channels for use in the coming assembly elections, the commissioner said. This money would have been used for bribing the voters involved in the election process. This amount is intended for delivery to some political leaders for distribution to the voters and in such deals the accused get huge commission, Kumar said. ED Conducts Searches at 11 Premises of Hawala Operator in New Delhi and Mumbai.

During the search of the house of one of the arrested Bahbut Singh Raj Purohit, a .32 bore revolver of his brother was found along with the hawala cash, he said. We will not allow any individual or political party to influence the election by use of cash, Kumar said, asserting that the city Police was committed to ensuring a free and fair election. In the next few days, checking of vehicles and lodges would be further intensified, the Commissioner added.

In the run up to the polls, the police and the I-T department have seized a total of Rs 56.48 crore unaccounted cash -- Rs 38.71 crore and Rs 17.71 crore respectively -- from different parts of the state up to November 5.