About 1,300 kg of gold seized by election flying squad in TN

Tiruvallur (TN): About 1,300 kg of gold, apparently being taken to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams(TTD), which runs the Lord Venkateswara temple in Andhra Pradesh, was seized by election flying squad officials here Wednesday.

The seizure of the gold bars from three vans was effected during a vehicle check and was later moved to a government facility for further probe, police said.

They said the occupants of the vans claimed that the gold belonged to the TTD and was being transported from a nationalised bank in Chennai.

However, officials are conducting probe to authenticate the veracity of their claims.

Reacting to the seizure, Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo various departments are still looking into it.

When contacted, a TTD official in Tirupati told PTI they would not like to comment on the matter because it was the responsibility of the bank concerned to prove the claim.

Meanwhile, a Tirunelveli report, quoting officials, said flying squad personnel seized Rs 2.36 lakh cash and 12 postal ballots meant for service personnel from the car in which DMK Lok Sabha candidate S Gnanathiraviam’s son G Dinkaran was travelling with some others.

A cheque for Rs two lakh was also recovered when they intercepted the car and carried out a search, they said.

Based on their complaint, a case was registered in connection with the seizure of postal ballots, which were meant for those posted on election duty, police said.

In yet another haul in the state, the flying squad seized some cash from the AIADMK office at Simmakal in Madurai.

Besides the currency notes, the officials also seized voters’ lists and were questioning a ward secretary of the party.