The State Crime Branch probing the Sura Baba scandal on Thursday started interrogating the Baba and his two sons about their involvement in economic offences.
After getting information regarding properties from the trio, a 12-member team of the probe agency visited Sura Baba alias Surendra Mishra’s Trahi Achyuta ashram at Jhiinti Sasan on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar in the afternoon.
The team went to the State Bank of India branch near the ashram to examine documents of the trio and seized six accounts in the names of the Baba, his wife and two sons and their wives having total deposits of Rs2.4 crore, said Crime Branch ADG BK Sharma.
The team, which had gone to the ashram for inquiry, found several sacks full of wads of currency notes of different denominations from behind the room where the Pothi (palm leaf manuscript), the main source of the ashram’s income, was kept.
Sources said the sleuths found bundles of notes of Rs1,000 denomination worth Rs25 lakh from a big box. Besides, the team seized more than 20 donation boxes having currency notes and coins of different denominations.
After seeing huge amount of notes, the team requisitioned some currency counting machines to assess the cash. Thousands of currency notes of Rs5 to Rs1,000 denominations and huge amounts of coins collected from donation boxes made the team literally tired.
Till the report received last, the sleuths were seen busy counting the currency notes.