Bulk of cash seized was political stash, says top I-T official

: The Karnataka-Goa income taxdirector-general B R Balakrishnan Monday said the role played by the I-T department in the run-up to the Karnataka assembly elections was significant.

Not only was there the cash seizure of Rs 36.95 crore, but the bulk of the cash seized was actual political cash linked to elections and meant to influence the electoral outcome, Balakrishnan told reporters here.

As many as 80 searches were conducted by the department, out of which 60 cases were detected by in-house intelligence, he said.

The searches on various government contractors unravelled the entire modus operandi of generation of unaccounted cash bythem for illegal funding of elections, he said.

In Mysuru, one such search led to cash seizure of over Rs six crore from benami lockers of contractors, Balakrishnan said.

The success of the investigation directorate in acting as a credible deterrence against tax evasion is evident from thesubstantial jump in the direct tax collections as ...