Acting on a tip-off, Ranchi police on Wednesday seized Rs 114 crore in cash hidden in GD Goenka’s school, allegedly for the ongoing assembly elections.
The money was seized from a private school located in Namkum area of the state capital. The police team raided the school in the presence of senior officials and recovered the money from the vice-principal’s office on the ground floor of the school after searching 25 classrooms.
Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police Chandan Kumar Sinha said, “Our flying squad raided GD Goenka School and seized Rs 1.14 crore in cash from the school premises. The money will be used to influence the Assembly elections. .Further investigation is ongoing.
Asked if any political parties were involved, Singh said the school management was being questioned and more details would be released later.
Around 100 police officers in 10 to 12 vehicles arrived at the school to conduct the raid, but the school was closed for Deepavali and the cleaners inside were asked to open the gate.
After completing the legal formalities, the police searched the room for nearly two hours but found nothing.
The police became suspicious after seeing that the vice-principal’s room was locked, and then called the school boss on the spot and opened the room. When police searched the room, they found the money along with four bottles of foreign liquor in the briefcase.
The State Bank of India called a machine to calculate the amount and the Income Tax department was informed of the raid, after which IT officials also joined the search operation.
Ranchi school owner Madan Singh has been detained for questioning. Police sources said Singh was linked to a political party, which they did not name. His home in Chudia area was also searched but police did not find anything there.
Published – October 31, 2024 03:08 AM (IST)