BHUBANESWAR/BALANGIR: In a major haul, Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel seized unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 70 lakh from two passengers at Titilagarh Junction Railway Station in the wee hours of Saturday. The duo, Umesh Prasad and Prabhat Kumar Sahu had boarded Dharti Aaba express train from Kesinga and were travelling to Hatia in Jharkhand.
Acting on specific intelligence, the RPF officials conducted a surprise inspection when the train arrived in Titilagarh. They found Umesh and Prabhat were carrying a bag consisting of huge amount of cash and detained them for questioning. The two told the RPF personnel that they were staff of a Ranchi-based liquor manufacturer Dilip Kumar Sahu.
“Umesh and Prabhat revealed that Dilip runs more than 10 countrymade liquor manufacturing units in Kesinga, Bhawanipatna and other parts of the state and they were going to hand over the cash collected from the liquor sales to him,” said an RPF officer.
As a huge amount of cash was seized, the RPF officers informed the Income Tax department about the matter. The I-T officials arrived on the spot and interrogated both Umesh and Prabhat. However, they were later released.
Sources said the I-Tax officials have summoned Dilip in connection with the cash seizure. “The liquor manufacturer will be questioned in the connection. Further action will be initiated accordingly,” said sources in the I-T department.
Meanwhile, with political campaigning for the Nuapada Assembly by-election at its peak, the sudden seizure of such a huge sum has triggered speculation that the money may have been intended for influencing voters or financing election-related activities.
The authorities have not yet linked the detained individuals or Sahu to any political party, but sources indicated that investigation is being conducted to trace the source and intended destination of the funds. The Election Commission is also expected to step in to verify whether the seized cash violates the Model Code of Conduct, which is currently in force for the by-election.