In a late night raid, Telangana’s Karimnagar police on Saturday, March 16, seized Rs 6.65 crore from the Prathima Mall, which is linked to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former MP B Vinod Kumar.
The raids began at 1.30 am and continued until morning, according to reports.
The police said that they had received a tip-off that unaccounted cash was kept hoarded in the mall and following the searches, they seized Rs 6.65 crore in cash.
“We are ascertaining the source of the cash to determine whether it was accounted for or unaccounted. The investigation is underway,” said a police officer. He added that the seized cash would be produced before the court.
According to reports, the mall is owned by Vinod Kumar’s family, and the timing of the raids, just a few weeks before the Lok Sabha elections, has raised eyebrows. Vinod is said to be a close aide of former CM K Chandrashekar Rao, and earlier, Rao had announced that Vinod would be contesting from the Karimnagar constituency. He will be contesting against BJP’s Bandi Sanjay, the incumbent MP. The Congress is yet to announce its candidate in Karimnagar.
Meanwhile, Vinod Kumar is yet to respond to the issue.