Andhra elections: Police seize gold, silver, cash worth ₹16.94 Cr; 25 held

Kurnool: Ahead of elections, police seized Rs 16.94 crore worth of gold, silver, and unaccounted cash in different operations in Kurnool, Nellore and Tirupati districts on Thursday. As many as 25 accused have been held in the crackdown so far.

Police seized Rs 4.59 crore worth of gold, silver, and unaccounted cash during a vehicle check near a toll plaza on NH-44 near Amakathadu village, Krishnagiri Mandal in Kurnool district on Thursday night.

Police found five kg of silver biscuits, 4.32 kgs of gold, and Rs 1.84 crore cash during the seizures from four persons identified as Amar Pratap Pawar (25), a native of Nandyal, Venkatesh Rahul and Senthil Kumar, natives of Coimbatore in Tamilnadu and Sabari Rajan, a native of Salem in Tamilnadu.

Seizure details

Superintendent of Police (SP) G Krishna Kanth said that on credible information, at around 11 pm on Thursday the special branch police intercepted an air-conditioned private sleeper bus (NL 01 M 2506) traveling from Hyderabad to Coimbatore. Four passengers carrying the gold, silver, and unaccounted cash without any documents were arrested by Veldurthi police, he said, and added that all the seized materials will be handed over to income tax officials in Vijayawada for further scrutiny.

Nellore Police seize Rs 7.23 crore

Nellore police conducted raids at the integrated check post near Venkatachalam and PSR bus stop close to the railway station on Thursday and seized Rs 7.23 crore in cash, said Nellore city DSP D Srinivasa Reddy.

Fifteen persons were arrested in connection with the illegal possession of unaccounted cash, he added.

Seizure details

Srinivasa Reddy said that of the total accused, eight persons were found moving suspiciously at the PSR bus stand center with unaccounted cash of Rs 4.38 crore. When the police questioned them, they failed to produce valid documents for the amount. In another incident, the police arrested four persons at the railway station main gate with Rs 1.44 crore in cash without any proper bills, he said.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested persons were reportedly acting on behalf of gold traders from Kakinada and Rajahmundry surroundings. The gold traders allegedly deployed to purchase gold from various locations, including Tirupati and Chennai, in an attempt to evade taxes for the government, he added.

In another operation, Venkatachalam police seized an additional Rs.1.40 crore in unaccounted cash from three persons at the Venkatachalam toll plaza. The accused reportedly planned to purchase gold with the intention of evading taxes, the DSP said.

Tirupati Police seize Rs 5.12 crore unaccounted cash

In Tirupati district, the Gudur police also seized Rs 5.12 crore unaccounted cash during a vehicle check held at Varagali cross road in Chillakuru mandal. Six persons were arrested during the checks in two separate operations. All the seized amount will be sent to the income tax department for scrutiny, DSP Suryanarayana Reddy said.