With elections in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur over and due in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Goa, movement of huge amount of cash, to and fro from the election-bound States, is rife at the Delhi Airport.

Security agencies speculate the rampant cash movement has an association with the ongoing and upcoming polls in various States.

Normally, fliers don’t carry cash in huge amount; however, in the last one month, over a crore of rupees in cash has been spotted with passengers.

One such incident came into recently on February 3. According to CISF officials, on February 3, a passenger travelling on the Go Airlines flight number G8 175 was found carrying Rs 10 lakh in cash in his luggage.

“The passenger was intercepted carrying Rs 10 lakh in cash. He was travelling from Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport to Goa on a Go Air flight. As per the directions of the Election Commission, he was handed over to the Income Tax (IT) Department. The cash he was carrying was seized by the department; however, he was let free by the IT officials.”

On January 14, a passenger named Laxman Das, travelling on a Spicejet flight from Varanasi to Delhi tried to play mischief by informing the security personnel that he is travelling with cash worth Rs 11 lakh.

“However, when screened, his luggage was found to be containing much more cash than he declared. He was intercepted carrying Rs 23,68,000 in cash. When interrogated, he said that the money belongs to a non-profit trust in Varanasi. However, when frisked later, no supporting documents supporting his claim could be found with him. The IT department has seized his cash,” informed another CISF official.

Cash movements have also been spotted from the North Eastern states, such as Assama and even from West Bengal.

“On January 23, a passenger, Diganta Taurisdan, was travelling from Guwahati to Kolkata. He was intercepted by the Intelligence Wing of the IT department carrying foreign currency worth Rs 49 lakh in India. Another passenger, travelling on a Kingfisher flight to Goa, was found with a huge amount of money. When screened, his baggage was found to be containing Rs 26 lakh in cash. He was later taken for interrogation by the chief Income Tax Commissioner,” concluded the CISF official.