Cash seizure in Hassan: BJP seeks probe

A delegation comprising BJP leaders from Karnataka on Thursday urged the Election Commission of India to conduct an independent probe on Rs 1.2 lakh cash seized from a police vehicle in the Hassan constituency a day before Lok Sabha polling in the state.

The delegation comprising BJP national general secretary Muralidhar Rao, party's state general secretary Aravind Limbavali and MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, complained the ECI that it does not have "faith and trust" in the investigation being carried out by the state police department.

"It is a serious complaint. The money was seized on April 17 from a police vehicle in Holenarsipura, Hassan constituency a day before the first phase of the election. This is a serious incident," Rao told reporters after meeting the ECI.

In the memorandum, the state BJP informed that Rs 1.2 lakh in cash was seized from a vehicle owned by the Bengaluru Police a day before the election on April 18 in Holenarsipura in Hassan constituency, from where JD (S) chief and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's grandson Prajwal Revanna was contesting.

The BJP also requested the ECI to collate all cases of election-related malpractices and use of unaccounted money in the state and conduct an independent probe.