Banks to track unusual activity ahead of polls

Certificates for withdrawals over Rs. 50,000

Starting this week, all banks in the city will report ‘suspicious transactions’ to the Chennai District Election Office on a daily basis.

After a meeting with the representatives of 42 banks — both public and private sector — early this week, the district election office asked over 1,000 branches to track ‘unusual activity’ in accounts and screen suspicious transactions.

“Cash transactions in many branches have already come down by more than 30 per cent because of restrictions related to model code of conduct,” said an official of a public sector bank.

Total payment in a leading public sector bank branch in T. Nagar has reduced to Rs.1.8 crore a day this week as against Rs. 2.7 crore on the same day last year. The total receipts by the same branch too have come down to Rs. 2.19 crore from Rs.3.8 crore on the same day last year, the official pointed out.

A nodal officer in each branch will submit data on cash transactions. The district election office has directed banks to issue certificates to traders and residents who withdraw more than Rs. 50,000. “Residents carrying cash should show the certificate to any of the 48 static surveillance teams in the district or flying squads on interception of their vehicle,” said an official.

However, cash in excess of Rs.10 lakh will be returned to residents or traders only after scrutiny, bankers said.

1.37 lakh applications

About 1.37 lakh residents have applied for inclusion in the electoral rolls.

“Data entry is under way. We have accepted 1.11 lakh applications and rejected 3,405. Over 22,755 applications will be disposed this week. Booth-level officers will visit homes to verify the data,” said an election official. The forms were received between January 10 and March 25 from residents belonging to the city’s three LS constituencies.

Applicants will have to wait for the release of supplementary electoral rolls to know if their names have been included. While EC has instructed that applicants be informed through post or by SMS on the mobile number given on Form 6, the district election office is unlikely to send such communication to the applicants, said officials.