Amid heightened surveillance ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections, police in Kolkata have seized approximately ₹25 lakh in cash from an app-based taxi near City Centre in Newtown on Thursday afternoon, officials said on Thursday. One person was arrested in connection with the incident.
According to police sources, the Bidhannagar Detective Department, along with Eco Park Police Station, had been conducting surveillance based on a tip-off from confidential sources. Acting on the input, officers intercepted the vehicle near Newtown City Centre on Thursday morning. A search of the taxi led to the recovery of a substantial amount of cash.
The arrested individual has been identified as Suresh Thakur, a resident of Gujarat. Preliminary investigations suggest that he was transporting the money from the Burrabazar area of Kolkata towards Newtown at the time of interception.
With the Model Code of Conduct(MCC) currently in force due to the elections, authorities have intensified monitoring of cash movement across the state. Police are now probing the source of the seized money and examining whether it was intended for any activities related to the upcoming polls.
In a related development, a similar cash recovery was reported earlier from Alipurduar, where police seized money from a vehicle bearing an Assam registration number during routine checking. The accused in that case, Biken Ishwarari, claimed the cash to be his personal earnings, stating that he works as a ration dealer and areca nut trader and frequently carries cash for business transactions.
Bundles of ₹500 and ₹100 denomination notes were recovered during a thorough search of the vehicle in that instance as well.
These back-to-back incidents highlight the administration’s strict vigilance in the run-up to the elections. Police officials indicated that such checks and surveillance operations will be further intensified in the coming days.
Authorities remain on high alert as investigations continue to determine whether these seizures are isolated cases or part of a larger network linked to election-related activities.
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