Leaders parked money with lender Babulal

“A number of politicians were parking money with the money lender who would use the funds in his money lending business by charging a high interest rate. He would return the money to the politicians with interest when required. The difference in interest rates charged to the politicians and those he was lending their money to was his own source of income,” sources in the ED said.

The ED officials said that the Rs 8.74 crore in cash seized from the money lender was meant for election use and was ready to be disbursed in trunks when Bellary district officials carried out their raids. A portion of the cash and some of the savings certificates purchased in the name of Parasuram and his kin could be counterfeit, official sources said.

Officials in Bellary had called in the IT department and the ED to investigate the large amount of liquid and semi-liquid funds with the moneylender who was also involved in the iron ore transportation business and an explosives business. The funds were also suspected to  be related to the CBI’s investigation into the Bellary illegal mining mafia that ruled the roost in the region between 2009 and 2011. The cash was found stashed in rice and dhal containers apart from trunks and cupboards.