Mumbai: Private helicopter pilots are being offered anywhere between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh per trip by the 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.
The Income Tax Department launched a crackdown on the distribution of money in return of votes last week, with the 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 the Income Tax officers have maintained a tight vigil at the airports with the help of the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs. The situation is no different at the railway stations where the I-T sleuths and the railway cops have set up 24x7 surveillance units. Private helicopter companies are always in demand during elections as choppers are the safest, fastest and a hassle-free mode to transport cash," an aviation source said.
09/04/14 Yogesh Naik & Bipin Kumar Singh/Mumbai Mirror
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
The Income Tax Department launched a crackdown on the distribution of money in return of votes last week, with the 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 the Income Tax officers have maintained a tight vigil at the airports with the help of the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs. The situation is no different at the railway stations where the I-T sleuths and the railway cops have set up 24x7 surveillance units. Private helicopter companies are always in demand during elections as choppers are the safest, fastest and a hassle-free mode to transport cash," an aviation source said.
09/04/14 Yogesh Naik & Bipin Kumar Singh/Mumbai Mirror
