Rs 1.37 cr unaccounted cash found in lockers at Ganpati Plaza in Jaipur

The I-T department team claims that there are more than 300 such lockers which have not been checked yet. If cooperation is not received in the investigation, all the lockers will be cut open, it said.

The I-T team was searching for the owner of these lockers since 29 October, but no one came forward claiming them. 

The owner of the locker agency was also questioned in this matter, but no satisfactory reply came from the other side.

So on Friday, the I-T department reached the Royra Safety Wallets located at Ganpati Plaza with a cutter. The money was taken out by cutting the lockers.

An I-T official said, "There are many such lockers about which the owner of the locker company is not aware. So we are taking out the money by cutting the lockers. Keeping security and transparency in mind, videography is being done of the entire process.”

It needs to be mentioned here that the I-T officials are continuously investigating the lockers built at Ganpati Plaza.

During the search on 29 October, I-T officials found 4.5 kg gold from a locker which was wrapped in a cotton sheet.

Teams were called to the spot to check the gold for its weight and purity. During investigation, the gold was found to be pure. Its current market value is said to be around Rs 2.5 crore.

The investigation into the lockers started after allegations levelled by Rajya Sabha MP Kirori Lal Meena.

I-T officials are busy investigating the Royra Safety Wallets located here. So far, about 763 lockers have been checked, while 337 more are yet to be investigated. 

At an election rally in Udaipur on Thursday, PM Narendra Modi had said, “You can see how lockers of corrupt officers in Rajasthan are loaded with gold. Cases are being revealed where a close officer of CM has purchased two-dozen flats in a year."

The statement has created a furore in the Rajasthan bureaucracy.