Vidhan Soudha cash seizure: IT notice to advocate, friends

BENGALURU: The Vidhana Soudha police, who seized unaccounted cash over Rs 1.97 crore from an advocate on Friday, have requested the court for directions to keep the seized cash at state treasury, as the amount was huge. Meanwhile, the officials of the Income Tax Department have issued notices to the people, who purportedly gave money to the advocate.

Police said they produced the seized Rs 1,97,49,000 in cash before the 8th ACMM Court on Saturday and gave it to the court possession. “As per the norm, the seized property should be kept in the police station. However, as the money is huge, we requested the court to permit us to keep the money at state treasury for security reasons,” an official said.

The police grilled the advocate, Siddhartha H.M., who was caught ferrying the cash in his car, for around two hours on Saturday. “He said that he was planning to buy a property near his office at Chalukya Circle. His friends Rajendra and Gaffar had given him the money as per his statement. Rajendra had given him Rs 20 lakh while Gaffar had given him around Rs 1.25 crore. He had kept the cash at his office. As it was being renovated, there were some workers and thus he was carrying the money in the car. He has claimed he had planned to keep it back in the office in the evening, after the workers left,” the official added.

Meanwhile, the IT officials also questioned the advocate and based on his statement, notices have been served to Rajendra and Gaffar, who were named by the advocate.