73 kg ornaments seized at Salem, Rs 10 Cr in Palladam

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the election flying squad has seized 73 kg of gold and silver articles. The articles were seized from a vehicle on a checkpoint. The occupants said the ornaments were being taken to different jewellery stores from Mumbai and handed over documents.

Coimbatore: The Election flying squadon Thursday seized 73 kg of gold and silver articles from a van during a vehicle check near Salem while Rs 10 crore wasseized from another vehicle in Tirupur, officials said.

Officials intercepted a van at Kondalampatti, some 160 km from here, in the early hours and on search found a hugequantity of ornaments packed in plastic bags, electiondepartment sources said.

The occupants said the ornaments were being taken todifferent jewellery stores from Mumbai and handed overdocuments.

However, officials found more ornaments in the vehiclethan mentioned in the documents and handed them over to theassistant returning officer, who informed district collectorRohini.

Rohini asked the occupants about the documents and notsatisfied with their replies, alerted Income Tax officials,who seized the ornaments.

Meanwhile, Rs 10 crore was seized from a van nearPalladam in Tirupur district.

The cash was being taken by thestaff of Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank at Podanur near here reportedly to Tuticorin, election department sources said.

However, there was no valid document for the cashtransfer and it was seized at Karadivavi.

The election flying squad seized Rs 5 lakh and twoair guns from a vehicle at Vadavalli in the city.

However, those travelling were working with a security firm. They informed the officials that the cash wasbeing transferred to a bank and submitted documents followingwhich the money was returned.

They, however, did not have valid licence forpossession of guns which were confiscated, officials added.

(With inputs from PTI)