Cash crunch: I-T says 97% of poll seizures in Karnataka in big notes
April 21, 2018  17:55
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Rs 2,000 and 500 notes constitute 97 per cent of the Rs 4.13 crore cash that the Income Tax Department has seized in poll-bound Karnataka till now, authorities said today.

The revelation comes in the backdrop of a cash crunch being witnessed across various regions in the country as a number of ATMs had gone dry.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes, that makes policy for the ITD, had recently asked its probe wings in the country to check these instances.        The results of this exercise in Karnataka are now known.

'Though the election process is just beginning, the investigation wing of the department in Bengaluru has already seized cash of Rs 4.13 crore and gold jewellery of 4.52 kilogrammes valued at Rs 1.32 crore.

'The interesting fact in these seizures is that the majority of the cash is in the denominations of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. Out of the total cash seized, an amount of Rs 4.03 crore is in these higher denominations,' the department said in a statement.

The seizures have been made since the Election Commission announced on March 27 the schedule for the assembly election in Karnataka.

It said that these revelations have come at a time 'when people are finding it difficult to withdraw the money from the banks/ATMs' and that this development is sure to raise eyebrows.

'Among the cash seizures, the Bengaluru city tops the list with the figure of Rs 2.47 crore followed by Bellary at Rs 55 lakh,' it added.

It said that while there are reports of cash shortage in some parts of the country, cash 'seems to be flowing' in the poll-bound state.

It said that as part of the enhanced alertness in the wake of the single-phase polling scheduled on the May 12, the investigation wing of the department in Karnataka and Goa has 'stepped up its surveillance and monitoring activities'.

'A high level of alertness is being maintained in airports and railway stations,' it said.    -- PTI

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