Hyderabad: It’s raining cash in the city all thanks to the upcoming Munugode assembly by-poll in Telangana, scheduled to be held on November 3. Elections are all about money and the state police has seized a huge amount of ‘Hawala cash’ in the run-up to the by-election over the last weeks in Hyderabad especially.
While officially the Hyderabad police has not said it’s all going to Nalgonda district for the Munugode by-poll, sources told Siasat.com that the Hawala money seized so far was likely on its way to Munugode for poll campaigns. In Hyderabad alone, the police has seized around Rs. 10 crore in cash that was being transported by local conduits.
Aside from Hawala money being seized by the Hyderabad police, Narsingi cops under the Cyberabad police also seized Rs. 1 crore that was reportedly supposed to reach a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Munugode. According to the police, during a vehicle checking at Narsingi Rotary, a team found people transporting cash in three vehicles – two cars and a bike.
Rs. 1 crore Hawala cash was seized – Rs. 35 lakh each from the cars and Rs. 30 lakh from the bike. During inquiry, it was found that the money was to be handed over to Komatireddy Sumanth Reddy and Komatireddy Surya Pavan Reddy. Both are associated with Rajagopal Reddy who is contesting in the Munugode by-poll.
The Munugode elections were necessitated after ex-Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy resigned in August and shifted loyalties to the BJP. Now contesting on a BJP ticket, he will be in a tough battle with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Congress as well.
String of Hawala cash seizures
On October 8, the Hyderabad commissioner’s Task Force team caught two persons near Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Jubilee Hills with unaccounted cash worth Rs 2.49 crore. The Jubilee Hills police in a press release stated that two persons confessed to hawala operations for one Botchu Ramu, who works as the manager of Boyance Infrastructure in Bangalore. No link to Munugode however was mentioned.
It is still unclear if the company made a donation or was only routing Hawala money for elections and police are still probing the case, said police officials. Another big seizure in the run-up to the Munugode by-poll by Task Force officials was the seizure of Rs. 3.5 crore from six persons at Gandhinagar. The police in that case also suspect it was bound for Munugode.
According to the Hyderabad police, the six persons arrested were travelling in two cars with the amount when they were apprehended by Task Force officials near Hotel Marriott in Hyderabad. The Hawala money was being reportedly taken to Munugude for being handed over to some persons linked to the BJP.
Similarly, on September 29, Rs 1.24 crore Hawala cash was also seized Task Force officials from a Meerut-based scrap dealer living in Hyderabad city. He told police officials that he collected the Hawala money on instructions of his relative and was asked to hand it over to four persons (to be sent to Munugode for the by-poll eventually).
Earlier this month, a Task Force team also raided an electrical warehouse at Troop Bazaar and detained five persons. A total of Rs. 63.50 lakh, allegedly part of the Hawala transaction was seized from them. The police said the electrical godown, Ranuja Marketing, was raided based on a tip-off. Hawala money collection and distribution was in progress at the time, said police officials.
Intelligence department keeping tight vigil
The Hyderabad police’s intelligence department is fully utilizing its moles planted in political parties to sniff out the money transfers or transactions to different candidates or leaders/ workers of political parties in Telangana and on inputs generated by the local police teams, a police official said on condition of anonymity. The cops are on high alert in view of the upcoming Munugode by-poll.
He added that most of the money seized was meant for the Munugode assembly constituency only. “Big businessmen and industrialists are being tapped by the political parties to fund the elections. Some businessmen are providing the loan by charging substantial interest to the candidates or the political parties’ in-charges,” he added.
The senior cop explained that in case donations are made, the donor will seek benefits at a later stage from the political party or the candidate if they win. The other way if it is a loan, they get interest fixed upon by both parties.
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