Possible cash-for-votes scandal in northeast, officials under scanner  

New Delhi: A big revelation came out, on Wednesday, when the regional office of the department of income tax claimed that large amounts of currency had been deposited in banks in the weeks leading up to the election, which gave rise to suspicions of a possible cash-for-votes scandal.

On Tuesday night, ₹1.8 crore in cash was sized from a BJP convoy in Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh, after which the tax authorities issued a news release possible role of banks in the scandal and the I-T department also reported that there are many cash withdrawals have escaped so far from the notice of the authorities.

The news release by the department reveals that some banks have possibly being used as conduits to hide and move suspicious cash. The data procured so far is limited only to transactions involving five major banks in the region over the last 10 days.

The I-T investigation principal director, Sanjay Bahadur, at a news conference, held in Guwahati, revealed, “Even from this small sample, hundreds of suspicious cash deposits and withdrawals in banks for amounts over ₹10 lakh have come under the scanner. Inquiries have been initiated in about 200 cases so far.”

The Election Commission has also questioned the services of the I-T department over this. The department is also gearing up for a massive investigation in coming days, with data from over 100 banks across the northeast likely to arrive soon.

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