Did an EC flying squad fail to report a cash seizure in Andhra? Police register case

A case has been registered against members of a flying squad of the Election Commission in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district for allegedly failing to report the seizure of cash ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to the local police. The complainant, Chandrashekar Reddy, has alleged that on April 7, days before the polling which took place on April 11, his vehicle was intercepted near G Pulla Reddy Engineering College near Kodumuru on the Kurnool-Nandyal main road. Speaking to TNM, Kurnool Taluka Circle Inspector Chalapathi Rao said, "The complainant claimed that two people, including one in a police uniform, intercepted his vehicle near the college and confiscated the Rs 15 lakh that he was carrying." The complainant said that he was a native of Kurnool working in a private transport company in Coimbatore in Tamil Naidu and claimed to be heading there when the money was confiscated. Reddy claimed that the members of the flying squad seized the money from him as he did not have the relevant documents and told him that he could claim his money from the police later. However, the squad allegedly failed to report the seizure of cash to the District Superintendent of Police or to the Income Tax officials. Speaking to TNM, the Kurnool Taluka Circle Inspector also confirmed that there was no record of this particular seizure with the police. Earlier this week, Reddy approached the police with relevant documents to account for the seized money and filed a complaint. The police have registered a case under IPC Sections 406 (Punishment for criminal breach of trust), 409 (Criminal breach of trust by public servant) and other relevant sections. While no one has been arrested so far, the issue did come to the notice of the SP, who has ordered for a probe into the incident. Three suspects, including a constable and an official from the Education Department and a driver, were reportedly taken into custody for questioning.