Rs 3 crore of BJP money seized – and released

Ghaziabad/Lucknow, Sep 8 (IANS) Cash amounting to Rs 3 crore was seized from a car in Ghaziabad on Thursday but it was released after the BJP claimed the money and said it was being taken to its Lucknow office.

A car with a Haryana registration was intercepted at Indirapuram when the driver tried to break through a police barricade, police said.

Police chased the car and on checking it, discovered the cash in the boot.

The car was registered in the name of Ajeet Mishra of Gurgaon and the two persons travelling in the car were identified as Siddhartha Shukla and Anoop Agarwal.

The two reportedly said the money belonged to them and they were taking it to deposit it in the Bharatiya Janata Party fund in Lucknow.

After a police alert, income tax officials tried to confirm the source of the money.

Meanwhile, Ashok Monga, former president of BJP's Ghaziabad city unit, reached the police station and gave it in writing that the money was being "sent by the BJP Central Office to the BJP state office in Lucknow for party activities".

He also said that Agarwal, who was carrying the money, was a worker of the party and had been authorised to carry the money to Lucknow.

According to Inspector Anil Yadav, police were told that the cash was being sent to Lucknow to meet the expenses of the BJP state headquarters where repair work was in progress.

"We called the income tax officials. They verified the papers and allowed him to go. So the cash has been released," added Yadav.