21 lakh plus unaccounted money seized in poll-bound Noida

Noida: An amount of more than 21 lakh of unaccounted money in cash was recovered from a man's Porsche from Noida in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, while Uttar the state is heading to polls, PTI reported.

The man was caught near Sector 60 police station here during checking conducted by local Sector 58 police station and the Static Surveillance Team in a joint operation, officials told PTI.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Noida 2) Rajneesh Verma told PTI that the man identified himself as Rohit Awana and resident of Sector 19 of Noida. The car has a UP registration. Awana claimed that he owns a petrol pump, and the money in his possession was a collection of the last three-four days. However, he couldn't produce any documents to prove his claim, and police seized the cash, ACP said.

ACP further said that the Income Tax department had been informed of the seizing of money, and further legal procedures on the case are being carried out. Awana was questioned and later released after completing procedures. There will be an investigation on whether the cash has links with the upcoming polls, he added.

In Noida, unaccounted cash worth more than Rs 1.5 crore has been seized in recent days. Two people were held by the police last week with Rs 99,30,500 of unaccounted money. One man was the driver of the SUV from which the cash was found, and the other identified himself as manager of a Delhi based firm, police had said.

Noida will be heading to the polls on February 10.