A day after Bagepalli police arrested a man and seized Rs 35 lakh, which was believed to be spirited out of Puttaparthi, the Anantapur police on Sunday morning recovered at least Rs 5 crore stuffed in two gunny bags from a government-owned Puttaparthi-Bangalore Volvo bus. Police detained two Tamil Nadu-based men and took them to a secret location in Anantapur for interrogation. The two were trying to take away the cash in the guise of passengers.

The Bagepalli police on Saturday stopped a van bearing No. HP-66-0999 near Patapalya on a tip off and seized Rs 35 lakhs from Harishananda Shetty, who was driving the multi-utility-van. Sources said Shetty, a native of Ajjarakadu in Udupi, is an employee of a private construction company in Bangalore with its office on MG Road and was deputed to Puttaparthi to construct the samadhi of Sathya Sai Baba. Harishananda Shetty named a certain Shekhar as the person who handed him the consignment. Shekhar, the car driver of a trustee of Sathya Sai institute, was arrested late on Sunday.

The Anantapur police on Sunday morning recovered at least Rs 5 crore stuffed in two gunny bags from a government-owned Puttaparthi-Bangalore Volvo bus. Police detained two Tamil Nadu-based men and took them to a secret location in Anantapur for interrogation. The two were trying to take away the cash in the guise of passengers. Sources said the money was seized at Kothacheruvu, 12km from Puttaparthi and 145km from Bangalore.  Police suspect that the cash, said to be anywhere between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore, was being brought from Puttaparthi.