Bengaluru: High drama was witnessed at the Vidhana Soudha premises yesterday after a typist employed there tried to escape from the Police on his two-wheeler carrying Rs.25.76 lakh in unaccounted cash. The stash has since been recovered from him.

Police said Mohan (52) works in the office of Backward Classes Welfare Minister C. Puttarangashetty. However, the Minister has denied any links with him.

A senior Police Officer said that around 4.30 pm, Mohan was passing through the West Gate near the High Court on his two-wheeler carrying a bag. Based on a tip-off, the security personnel stopped him before he exited. On seeing the Police, he took a U-turn and tried to escape but the Police chased him in a jeep and caught him. The bag contained currency notes of Rs.2,000, Rs.500 and Rs.200 denomination.

“Mohan said that he works as a typist in a private company, but we found a contractual identity card. He is not revealing where the money came from and claims that he was taking it for business purpose. He has no valid documents to support his claims,” the Police Officer said.

“We are examining CCTV footage to establish where he collected the money and from whom,” the Police Officer said. “Preliminary investigations have revealed that three contractors of the Ganga Kalyana Scheme had handed over the cash to Mohan which he was to hand over to some officials in the Backward Classes Welfare Department. We have booked a case under CrPC 41(D) and IPC 102 and further investigations are on. We will conduct mahazar at the office premises,” the Officer said.

Meanwhile, Minister Puttarangashetty said that he has nothing to do with the person arrested or the cash seized from him. “I have nothing to do with him or the money seized from him. He was appointed as typist in my office even before I took over as Minister and I have not even seen his face. Now I have fired him,” he said.

“There are CCTV cameras installed everywhere in Vidhana Soudha. Let the Police find out who took that money inside the office. How can anyone with so much money be allowed inside when Police conduct checks on people who enter Vidhana Soudha? Let them probe and find out of the truth,” he said. The Minister also said, it may be Mohan’s personal issue which he would not be aware of.

In a similar incident, a person was found with Rs.2 crore unaccounted-for cash in his car in the Vidhana Soudha in October 2016.

The car belonged to an advocate, and the driver, H.M. Siddharth, was caught during a routine check by the Police posted at the gates. The case was transferred to Anti-Corruption Bureau, where it is still pending.