Lucknow, Aug 29 : Old currency notes worth Rs 30 lakh were recovered from the vehicle of a former Uttar Pradesh minister and senior Samajwadi Party leader Ravidas Mehrotra on Tuesday, police said.
The amount in bundles of Rs 500 notes was recovered by the police during a routine checking in the state capital from Mehrotra's sports utility vehicle (SUV) that bears the registration number UP 32 EU 7777.
Also found along the wads of notes was licensed revolver of the minister though he was not in the car at the time the recoveries were made, an official said.
The driver of the car and another man seated in the vehicle have been arrested. Police said the driver tried to flee but was apprehended.
The arrested persons have been identified as Deepak Kumar and Muneeb.
Police said they were questioning the duo on where did they get the money from and where was it headed to. Police officials, however, parried questions if the SP leader himself was in the car at the time of the recovery.
The question arises as the licensed revolver of the former minister was found in the car and it is highly unlikely that the gun was given to the driver.
Police had also hidden the car in the Gomtinagar police station but the media got whiff of it.
Mehrotra is a senior Samajwadi Party leader who lost the 2017 state assembly election from Lucknow to Bharatiya Janata Party's Brajesh Pathak.
