Pune: Private helicopter pilots are being offered anywhere between Rs 5-10 lakh per trip by political parties to transport money, even as the Election Commission-appointed Election Expenditure Observers seized Rs 14.4 crore in cash from various parts of the state in the past few days (see box).
The Income-Tax Department launched a crackdown on the distribution of money in return for votes last week, with I-T mobile surveillance teams deployed at bus stations, toll plazas and railway stations.
The Juhu aerodrome, which handles all helicopter operations out of Mumbai, and the VIP helipad at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse, which is used mostly by industrialists, have become hot favourite destinations for the political fixers, who found that it was easy to send money out of the city as there is hardly any surveillance at the two venues.
“Sending money by road is a huge risk, and I-T officers have maintained a tight vigil at the airports with the help of the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs.
09/04/14 Yogesh Naik & Bipin Kumar Singh/Pune Mirror
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The Income-Tax Department launched a crackdown on the distribution of money in return for votes last week, with I-T mobile surveillance teams deployed at bus stations, toll plazas and railway stations.
The Juhu aerodrome, which handles all helicopter operations out of Mumbai, and the VIP helipad at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse, which is used mostly by industrialists, have become hot favourite destinations for the political fixers, who found that it was easy to send money out of the city as there is hardly any surveillance at the two venues.
“Sending money by road is a huge risk, and I-T officers have maintained a tight vigil at the airports with the help of the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs.
09/04/14 Yogesh Naik & Bipin Kumar Singh/Pune Mirror
