Prakash Jha arrested,Rs 10.25 lakh seized

They were,however,later let off on furnishing personal bonds,official sources said.

All the 29 were booked under section 171-g (false statement in connection with an election),171-h (illegal payment in connection with an election) and 171- (failure to keep election accounts),Anupam told a reporter.

Jha,however,denied that the money was meant for distribution among the voters.

“The money seized is like small change. It was kept at the guest house close to the Maurya sugar factory that I am building. The money was to be paid to the labourers and other employees of the factory,” he claimed.

Jha accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi of acting with vendetta against him to sully his image.

The police also conducted a raid on Satyagrah guest house,the election office of Jha’s rival Congress candidate

Aniruddh Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav,the high-profile brother-in-law of Railway Minister and RJD President Lalu Prasad,following similar reports.

While no no money was found,two persons were taken into custody for interrogation,sources said.

A similar raid was conducted on the residence and clinic of BJP candidate Sanjay Jaiswal on Hospital Road,but nothing was found,they said.