In the biggest single cash seizure of the new currency, an Income Tax raid on the premises of two engineers and two contractors in Bengaluru found a whopping Rs 5.7 crore of cash, all in the recently-introduced Rs 2000 notes.

About Rs 90 lakh was also found in old notes, which were banned after demonetisation came into effect from November 9.

Income Tax sleuths added that 7 kg gold and about 9 kg of jewellery was also found in the raid, all valued at nearly Rs 5 crore. Several property documents have also been found and seized.

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The major haul was from a posh flat of Public Works Department engineer SC Jayachandra at upscale Sanjaynagar in the city's northwest suburb.

The sleuths also attached a Lamborghini and Porsche limousines of Jayachandra, parked in the basement of his multi-storey apartment.

The Income Tax department said it has detected unaccounted income worth Rs 152 crore in its searches in a dozen premises in Bengaluru and other locations.

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The tax sleuths had also seized some notes of Rs 100, demonetised notes of Rs 500 and a few gold biscuits during the operation, they said, adding the department had to call in note counting machines and additional staff to ascertain the value of the cash.

A team of over 50 Income Tax men and police personnel had launched operations on Thursday and searched premises in Bengaluru, Chennai and Erode (Tamil Nadu).

What had surprised the tax authorities is the sheer amount of new currency stashed by these individuals at a time when new notes are not available to the common men who are queueing up to withdraw small amounts from their accounts.