What began as a routine police check over a pistol flaunted on Instagram turned into a startling cash seizure in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar on Sunday, when officers searching a young man’s house for a firearm instead allegedly found nearly Rs 3 crore stuffed inside a locked cupboard.
The recovery was made during a police drive against social media accounts featuring photographs and videos of people posing with pistols, knives and other weapons.
During the exercise on Sunday, police identified two social media profiles carrying photographs of pistols. But when police broke open a cupboard whose key, the family claimed, was not available, they found bags packed with currency notes. The cash was so substantial that a counting machine had to be brought in. The recovery was made during a police drive against social media accounts featuring photographs and videos of people posing with pistols, knives and other weapons. Verification was carried out in two separate cases, one in the Moti Nagar police station area and another in Gopalganj area. It was the Gopalganj verification that led police to the residence of Saurabh Ahirwar. Police had gone there to question him about the pistol seen in the social media photograph and to look for the weapon. During the search, officers noticed a locked cupboard. The family has further claimed that Ramesh lives in Bhopal and works as an engineer with the Public Works Department. Police are yet to independently establish the claim and the source of the cash.
Police routinely scan Instagram profiles of people suspected of criminal activity or those displaying weapons online, according to Sagar Superintendent of Police Anurag Sujania. When the family was asked to open it, they allegedly told police they did not have the key.
