Bhubaneswar/Keonjhar: The Economic Offences Wing of Odisha Crime Branch found that the Rs 10.90 crore in cash seized from a car in Mahasamund district of Chhattisgarh by the police there on February 19 belongs to a gutkha trader in Keonjhar district.
The EOW sleuths are camping in the district headquarters to nab gutkha trader Rajesh Gupta, who is absconding. “Efforts are on to trace the whereabouts of the absconding traders,” a senior Crime Branch official told journalists. “We are tracking his cellphone number and are conducting raids in different areas of the district.”
Preliminary investigation confirmed that the seized cash was being taken to Agra in Uttar Pradesh from Gupta’s factory in the Mancheswar Industrial Estate of Bhubaneswar.
EOW officials raided the factory in Mancheswar on February 22 but could find Gupta. Later, the officials left for Keonjhar after collecting his address from family members in Bhubaneswar.
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“We will try to ascertain the reason behind sending the huge amount by Gupta to Bibudhesh Agrawal, a businessman of Agra. A Crime Branch team will leave for Agra very soon and if necessary, notice will be served on Agrawal for interrogation on this matter,” the Crime Branch official said.
While the Director General of Police (DGP), Odisha, Dr RP Sharma had ordered for a Crime Branch probe into the incident, the Chhattisgarh police have handed over the investigation to the Income Tax department. “A special team of the Income Tax department is presently probing into the matter,” DIG (Intelligence), Chhattisgarh, Amaresh Mishra, had told the media on Sunday.
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