Hyderabad: Telangana police seized an amount of Rs58 million during a search of vehicles on Hyderabad-Warangal highway in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Warangal city police commissioner V Ravinder said that the huge amount of cash was being taken in a car from Hyderabad to Warangal to be use of a candidate in the assembly elections. “It was a hawala [illegally transferred money]”, he said.

The car belonging to a Hyderabad-based businessman Kirti Kumar Jain was stopped at Pembarti check post as part of the ongoing search of the vehicles. Police party found Rs 58,065,000 in the car.

Police have arrested Jain and his two drivers. With this the total amount of cash and illegal goods seized since the start of the election process in Telangana has cross Rs1.16 billion.

Preliminary inquiries showed that the money was being sent to three candidates of opposition People’s Front, the police commissioner said. Rs 15 million was meant for TDP candidate from Khammam Nama Nageshwara Rao, Rs20 million for V Ravichandar, Congress candidate from Warangal East and Rs23 million for Konda Murli, husband of Congress candidate from Mulug Konda Surekha. The money was being deposited with a local court, the police said.