Kottayam: Excise officials seized black money amounting around Rs 67 lakh and arrested a man in Pala on Monday. The arrested Manoj Mani, a native of Vellayamkudy, Idukki, was travelling on a bus from Bengaluru to Erumeli.

The officials initially seized Rs 42,48,500 from Manoj, and during further questioning, they discovered an additional Rs 23 lakh concealed under the bus seat.

The seizure was made as part of a special Onam drive initiated by the Deputy Excise Commissioner of Kottayam. Excise Inspector Bineesh Sukumaran and his team conducted an interstate vehicle inspection near the Pala KSRTC bus stand.

The operation team comprised Preventive Officer Santosh Michael, P O (G) Justin Thomas, Prasad P R, Women Civil Excise Officer Parvathi Rajendran, and Excise Driver Saji K J.