Maha: Rs 4 cr cash seized from car near Lonavla; cops inform I-T dept

Pune: Police have seized cash worth Rs 4 crore from a car near Lonavla hill town in Maharashtra’s Pune district and informed the Income Tax department after the vehicle’s occupants claimed the money belonged to a bullion trader, an official said on Wednesday. The seizure was made on Tuesday morning when the car was heading from neighbouring Mumbai to Sangli, he said.

”We had received information that cash and a weapon were being transported following which the police intercepted the car during a nakabandi (blockade) near Lonavla. Our team did not find any weapon, but seized the cash concealed in one of the car sections,” Superintendent of Police (Pune rural) Abhinav Deshmukh said.

When enquired, two occupants of the car told the police that the cash belonged to a bullion trader from Sangli, he said. ”We have informed the I-T department to probe whether it is unaccounted money. The seized cash will not be released till the I-T department gives us a clearance,” the official said.