The sleuths of the Income-Tax Department of Karnataka on Wednesday raided a flat guarded by an elderly woman and two dogs in northern Bengaluru and recovered Rs2.89 crore unaccounted cash, which includes Rs2.25 crore in new Rs2,000 notes.
Officials said the I-T Department got a tip-off that some unaccounted cash was being hoarded in an apartment in Yeshwanthpur locality, but the officers could not execute a search on Tuesday as the elderly woman living in the flat refused to cooperate with the taxmen and untied her two dogs in order to scare the sleuths.
It was also noticed by the I-T teams keeping a watch over the flat that a person visited the house in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Finally, on Wednesday afternoon the sleuths entered the flat with the help of residents of the area and the police and found a locked room.
“The locked room was opened and unaccounted for cash to the tune of Rs 2.89 crore, which includes Rs 2.25 crore of new Rs 2,000 denomination notes, was found. The entire cash has been seized and further investigation is on,” the department said in a statement.
In a separate case in Goa’s capital Panaji, the I-T Department seized Rs 67.98 lakh in new notes of Rs 2,000 denomination from a person who met the sleuths acting as decoy customers in desperate need of cash. “The seizure was made from a place called Banda on the Maharashtra-Goa border,” they said.
Post demonetization, the I-T Department’s probe wings of Karnataka and Goa, have seized a total of Rs 29.86 crore, with Rs 20.22 crore in new notes, 41.6 kg bullion and 14 kg jewellery. The department said it has detected unaccounted income worth Rs 1,000 crore as part of 36 operations launched till now by it in these two States.