Bihar police nab two people with ₹10 lakh cash ahead of Lok Sabha elections

According to police sources, the detained persons have been allegedly working with Bihar politician Bima Bharti for a long time

Bihar police officials on Wednesday evening detained two persons with ₹10 lakh in cash just two days ahead of the second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Purnea. Police are investigating to find out the source of the seized money.

New Indian Rupee 2000 Currency Note after Demonitization (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Purnea is scheduled to go to polls on Friday along with Katihar, Kishanganj, Bhagalpur and Banka districts, hence the police have not ruled out the possibility of the money being used for elections-related activities.

The arrested persons have been identified as Arbind Jaiswal and Mahavir Mandal. Both were allegedly working as private assistants to Bima Bharti, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate from Purnea parliamentary constituency.

Confirming the seizure, Rupauli police station house officer (SHO) Amzad Ali said, “Acting on a tip off, two persons who were travelling in the SUV were detained and later the cash worth ₹10 lakh was seized from their possession. The police are still interrogating them, and the Income Tax department has been informed.”

Bharti, who was with the Janata Dal (United), switched to RJD ahead of this year’s general elections after resigning from the Bihar assembly.

Purnea is locked in a triangular contest with sitting JD(U) MP Santosh Kumar, Bharti and Independent Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav facing off on April 26.