Bhubaneswar: Police and special squad Monday seized around `50 lakh unaccounted cash from the possession of two persons near Pipli. The two men on a motorcycle were caught at Tarakaj Square when they tried to give the police a slip during a routine check. They were detained for interrogation.
The two men, who hail from Balanga area in Puri district, did not stop at the frisking point. They were chased by the police and intercepted at Tarakaj Square. The seized money was in the denomination of `500 in 20 bundles, Pipli tehsildar Sapan Kumar Nanda said.
Later, the amount was seized from them and they were detained. The two were identified as residents of Balanga area. Further investigation by the police was underway to ascertain the source of the money, police source said.
The BJD, in a petition to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), alleged that the two men belonged to the BJP. Due to growing fear of losing the election, the BJP is pumping in huge amounts of money to influence Pipli voters, the BJD alleged. “We demand that police patrolling and surveillance teams be increased to ensure that the BJP does not succeed in its illegal activities of pumping money into the election,” the party said in its petition and demanded investigation to trace the source of the illegal money and to bring the guilty to book. BJP candidate for the seat Ashrit Pattnayak denied the allegation and said the money does not belong to the party.
Meanwhile, all three major political parties started campaigning in the constituency. BJD candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathy and his supporters campaigned in various areas Monday while BJP leader Sambit Patra joined the campaign trail for his party candidate Ashrit Pattnayak. Congress candidate Ajit Mangaraj also held a motorcycle rally to woo voters.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will campaign for his party candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathy soon. Sources said, a decision to this effect was taken at a meeting in the residence of Pratap Deb. Polling for the seat will be held
April 17 and votes will be counted May 2.