Puri, Apr 5 (PTI) Police on Monday seized currency notes of Rs 50 lakh from two persons at Pipili in Odisha where assembly by-poll is slated for April 17, police said.
The two men who were in a motorcyle were caught at Tarkaj Square when they tried to give the police the slip during a routine check and detained for interrogation.
Preliminary report said that the two men, who hail from Balanga area in Puri district, did not stop at the frisking point. They were chased by the police and intercepted at Tarakaj Square.
The seized money was in the denomination of Rs 500 in 20 bundles, Pipili tehsildar Sapan Kumar Nanda said.
The ruling BJD in a petition to the Odisha chief electoral officer alleged that the two men belonged to the BJP.
"Due to growing fear of losing, the BJP is pumping in huge amounts of money in a bid to influence the Pipili by- poll, the petition said.
"We demand that police patrolling and surveillance teams be increased to ensure that the BJP does not become successful in its illegal activities of pumping money into the election," it said and demanded strict investigation to trace the source of the illegal fund and to bring the guilty to book.
BJP candidate for the seat Ashrit Pattnayak denied the allegation and said the money does not belong to the party.
The by-election is being held in Pipili assembly seat after the death of its BJD MLA Pradeep Maharathy in October, 2020. Apart from Maharathys son and Pattnayak nine other candidates are in the fray in Pipili.
