Cash seizure: Police question President's son

Amravati: The President's son, Raosaheb Shekhawat, is embroiled in a controversy over seizure of Rs 1 crore worth of unaccounted cash in Amravati ahead of the municipal polls. Mr Shekhawat was today questioned by the Amravati Police Chief and his team.

Mr Shekhawat was today given a set of questions and his statement was recorded by the cops. The Congress MLA claimed that he sought the money from the state Congress to distribute among financially weak candidates.

The police is probing one crore rupees that was being transported from Nagpur to Amravati just days before the civic polls.

"We had asked for the money but I did not know how it was coming and when. So when I received a call saying that money was seized by the police I said 'I shall talk in the morning'," he told reporters.

The Election Commission had also sent a notice to Mr Shekhawat over the matter. Mr Shekhawat was to reply to the notice but could not as the District Collector was out of town.

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Also, a local court has asked the police to investigate the unaccounted cash.

The Amravati Police also recorded statement by MPCC general secretary Ganesh Patil on the same points, but refused to divulge details.

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"The driver told us that the cash was taken from the house of Rajendra Mulak (Minister of State) and delivered in Amravati," said Amitesh Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Amravati.

But the political activists in Amravati are questioning the timing as to why the huge cash was called when poll campaigning was almost over and poll time expenses like election materials and rallies were almost done with.

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"The money was brought in to be distributed among general voters. We have so many eyewitnesses about how cash was distributed and among whom," said Abdul Gaffar, an activist.

The Amravati police will now question Mr Mulak and the car owner Sathyanarayan Agrawal over the origin of the cash and why it was being brought in so secretly.