Ten days after a special cell was set up by the Income Tax Department here on the directive of the Election Commission to monitor the use of black money in the October 15 Maharashtra Assembly election, IT officials made their first seizure on Monday.
A surveillance team formed by the commission searched the car at a checkpoint in Bandra early on Monday and seized Rs. 35 lakhs.
A local police team was pressed into action and the I-T Department was informed of the seizure.
While the department claims that the money seized was not meant for election purpose, the Mumbai-based businessman from whose car the money was seized has not been able to give a satisfactory explanation on either the source or the recipient of the fund, a senior official from the department told The Hindu .