Navi Mumbai: The Khandeshwar police seized Rs. 34.98 lakh in Rs. 2,000 notes, and 22 gold buscuits worth Rs. 55.96 lakh from six people at Adai circle in New Panvel on Saturday night.
The six people, three of whom are jewellers, have been detained. “They have not been able to give us a satisfactory answer about the source of the huge amount they possessed. We have informed the Income Tax department, which will carry out the further enquiry,” said a police official from Khandeshwar police station.
The police had learnt that a few individuals would be coming to Panvel with large amounts of cash and gold. They laid a trap at Adai circle, and stopped an Indica car for checking. Police officials found 1,749 currency notes in 2,000-rupee notes, totalling Rs. 34.98 lakh, and 22 gold buscuits weighing 2,250 gram, worth Rs. 55.96 lakh in the car.
The total value of the police seizure was Rs. 91 lakh.
The six individuals have been identified as Tanaji Ishwar Metkar (32), a resident of Kamothe sector 36; Raghunath Bheemrao Mohite (30), Santosh Sarjevar Pawar (30), and Suryakant Jagannath Kande (38), all from Pune; Devram Pasaram Solanki (32), a resident of Sector 9 in Vashi; and Sukharam Khularam Chaudhary (38), a resident of Sector 3 in Airoli. Mohite, Pawar and Kande are jewellers and are being questioned about the source of the cash and gold biscuits.
The writer is a freelance journalist
