The state police department has asked traders and citizens, carrying a significant amount of cash with them, to have with them relevant documents and bank statements to prevent questions during the frisking operation ahead of the June 12 byelections.
Rayalaseema inspector-general Govind Singh said, “We have set up check posts in the poll-bound districts. If there are no proper documents, we will hand over the cash to the income-tax department.” North Coastal inspector-general of police K. Rajendranath Reddy assured the public that if proper documents were shown and the police could verify them as genuine, the cash could be released.
Police intensified checks in view of the by-elections in 18 legislative Assembly constituencies and the Nellore parliamentary constituency and seized huge amounts of cash. On Wednesday alone, Rs 1 crore in cash was seized in Rayalaseema district during police checks. In the past two days, huge amounts of cash also came from Tirupati, Ongole, Kurnool, Nellore and Godavari districts.
In three separate instances, around Rs 73 lakh was seized in Tirupati and about Rs 4 lakh and Rs 10 lakh in Anantapur. In Yemmiganur in Kurnool district, cash worth around Rs 3 lakh was seized.