Mumbai: The Thane police on Tuesday detained three people after finding them to be in possession of over Rs. 1 crore in new Rs. 2000 currency notes.
According to police sources, the detention was the result of an alleged tip-off that Unit I of the Thane Police Crime Branch received on Tuesday.
“The tip-off indicated that some men would be coming to Thane to exchange old high denomination notes for new ones. Acting on the information, we laid a trap near Thane Civil Hospital. The three suspects reached the spot in a Toyota Innova, and on searching the car, we found Rs. 1,00,44,000 in cash in Rs. 2000 notes,” said an officer with the Thane Police.
The trio were then taken to the Unit I office along with the car and the currency for further questioning. The Income Tax department was also informed, and a team is expected to reach Thane to quiz the trio later in the night.
“Based on our inquiries so far, we suspect that the trio was going to exchange the currency at a 20 per cent exchange rate. This is being further verified. We are also probing whether the currency was obtained with inside help from any bank,” the officer added.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Parag Manere, Thane Police, confirmed that three men had been detained with a large amount of cash and that further inquiries were on.
In another such incident, the Koparkhairane police on Monday detained two people with Rs 23.70 lakhs in Rs. 2000 notes. On account of Eid-e-Milad on Monday, the police were on bandobast duty when they got a tip-off about two individuals outside Beverly Park CHS in Sector 14. Hansraj Rathod (23), resident of Kopri village in Koparkhairane and Ramesh Gohil (26), a resident of Vashi, were stopped on suspicion and on checking, the police found a plastic carry bag with Rs. 23.70 lakh cash. Rathod works as a salesman in a garment shop while Gohil owns a saree shop in Vashi, the police said while confirming the incident.
“We detained them for further enquiry and have informed the Income Tax department about the incident. The duo has not been able to give satisfactory explanation for the source of the cash. We have seized the cash,” said Senior Police Inspector Satish Gaikwad.
(With inputs from Raina Assainar)
