With less than 48 hours to go for the polls, the Commissioner’s Task Force of the Hyderabad police busted a hawala money transfer racket and seized a net cash of Rs 3,13,44,000 and arrested eight people in separate incidents. The police said that the money was going to be used to influence voters. Gold biscuits weighing 1,800 grams worth Rs 60 lakh and 11 cell phones were also seized.
The police said that raids were conducted at Road No 36 of Jubilee Hills, Liberty, YMCA Clock Tower, Ranigunj in the city. The accused were identified as 38-year-old A Prakash, a resident of Yousufgyda, R Kiran Goud, a businessman, S V Krishnam Raju, K Ganesh Goud, Mayur Ram Gulabani, Sanjay Kumar Jha, D Yadagiri and Naresh Angara.
Speaking about the case, the police said that on December 4, three of the accused collected Rs 2,11,94,000 from Banjara Hills and planned to distribute it among voters in Sangareddy constituency in favour of Congress candidate Jayaprakash Reddy, more commonly known as Jagga Reddy. However, the accused were caught at Jubilee Hills.
Meanwhile, in another incident, an accused collected Rs 45,00,000 from Saifabad to give the same amount to another man under suspicious circumstances and was held by the police.
Another major bust according to the police was the arrest of Mayur Ram Gulabani, who was running a business near Charminar by the name ‘Legend Pearls’.
“He used to receive and deliver hawala money to needy customers on a commission basis of 0.8 % to 10% in the guise of a pearls business. He engaged two accused persons Sanjay Kumar Jha and D Yadagiri. On December 4, both the accused persons were found under suspicious circumstances trying to deliver net cash of Rs 50,00,000 and 1,800 grams of gold biscuits to one Mahender Agarwal, when they were arrested.
In the final incident, based on credible information, the North Zone Task Force team conducted a raid at Ispat Bhavan in Secunderabad’s Ranigunj area and apprehended Naresh Angara after they found Rs 6,53,000 that was allegedly to be delivered to a customer
The accused and the cash seized was handed over the Income Tax Department for further investigation.
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