You never know who is listening in on your telephone conversation in a public place. One woman learned this lesson the hard way. A passer-by overheard her conversation with her chartered accountant and concluded that she was trying to exchange demonetised currency illegally.
The passer-by contacted the police and helped them nab the 61-year-old woman for allegedly trying to exchange old ₹500 and ₹1,000 denominations notes amounting to over ₹26 lakh on Monday.
The woman, Krishnakumari Kamat, is a resident of Malleswaram. She runs a travel agency in Vyalikaval. She has been booked under the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017.
The police suspect her of using her contacts among Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in a money exchange racket.
On March 30, 2017, Krishnakumari was standing near Vivekananda Park in Girinagar and talking on her phone with another person. A passer-by overheard snippets of the conversation and alerted the police. The police went to the spot and questioned Krishnakumari. They learnt that she was carrying ₹26,54,500 in her bag. She claimed that she runs a tourism firm and that several of her NRI clients were seeking her help to exchange their demonetised currency.
She failed to produce documents for the money.
An officer said, “We explained that we were arresting her because she had in her possession demonetised currency notes, which in itself is an offence. We produced her before a magistrate, who released her on bail.”
The police seized 2,955 notes of ₹500 and 1,177 notes of ₹1,000.
"We suspect her of being part of a larger currency racket. On examining her call details, we found that a man maned Chandramma in Girinagar was helping her exchange the notes. According to her, Chandramma knew many NRIs.”
