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Buried cash cache in blue drums at Prayagraj home: I-T officials, police launch Pune trail
To aid manual excavation, officials brought in a dog squad and deployed ground-penetrating radar to scan for concealed vaults or additional caches of cash and valuables
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PRAYAGRAJ Authorities tightened the cordon around a residential property in Baraipur Ramnagar village here on Friday as the excavation for a buried cash cache reportedly worth crores of rupees entered its third consecutive day. The high-profile operation follows the sensational Wednesday night recovery of three blue plastic drums packed with cloth-wrapped bundles of ₹500 notes buried beneath the house.
While the exact valuation of the seized currency remains tightly guarded, the Income Tax (I-T) Department formally took control of the site and the investigation on Thursday evening. Brothers Rakesh Yadav, alias ‘Mahakal’, and Rajesh Yadav, the owners of the property in the Ganga Nagar zone, have been handed over to tax officials for sustained interrogation.
The residence has been turned into a virtual fortress, guarded round-the-clock by nearly 32 police personnel drawn from three local police stations. Inside the sealed premises, around a dozen labourers hired on Wednesday night remain at the site as digging continues.
To aid the manual excavation, officials brought in a dog squad on Friday afternoon and deployed ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to scan for underground anomalies, concealed vaults, or additional caches of cash and valuables. Investigators are also preparing to expand the search to adjacent orchards, vacant plots, and other real estate linked to the Yadav family.
“We began digging at the house on Wednesday night following a specific tip-off,” said DCP (Ganga Nagar) Sonam Kumar, who spearheaded the initial raid. “From Thursday evening onwards, the Income Tax Department took charge of the premises and the excavation process under the supervision of a 2022-batch IRS officer.”
“We have also handed over brothers Rakesh Yadav and Rajesh Yadav to the I-T department for further investigation,” Kumar added.
Piyush Mordia, commissioner of police, Prayagraj, said: “All the cash recovered from the place has been taken to Prayagraj police lines, where the teams of income tax department and bank are counting and examining them.”
Preliminary findings suggest the brothers allegedly transported the vast sums of cash and valuables from Pune, where they worked for a bullion trader for several years before returning to their native village during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Friday afternoon, a joint team of police and I-T officials departed for Maharashtra to verify leads generated during the brothers’ questioning and to investigate the source of the funds. An additional I-T unit from Lucknow is scheduled to arrive in Prayagraj on Saturday to assist in mapping the financial trail.
Residents of the village claimed that after returning from Pune during the pandemic, the family’s financial status changed dramatically. Rakesh was said to have purchased nearly 22 bighas of land worth over ₹10 crore, constructed a house estimated at around ₹1 crore, acquired tractors, a pickup vehicle and DJ equipment, and later started a cement and steel trading business.
The massive cash haul was uncovered inadvertently during a routine criminal inquiry. On October 21, a neighbour identified as Abhishek Kumar registered an FIR at the Nawabganj police station accusing Rajesh Yadav and four family members of physical assault.
While investigating the altercation, police received an intelligence input alleging that the brothers had hidden stolen money underground on their property. Acting on the tip-off, officers raided the premises on Wednesday night, unearthing the three cash-laden drums and triggering a probe into suspected tax evasion, money laundering and theft.
