Mumbai: Demonetised currency notes worth over ₹3 crore have been seized in Thane and five people have been arrested in the last 48 hours.
The first seizure was made by the unit I of Thane Crime Branch at Hariniwas Circle on Monday afternoon.
“We had learned about a suspect who was trying to get rid of a large number of old notes. We established contact with him by posing as racketeers willing to exchange the notes. A deal was finalised, and we called him to Hariniwas Circle,” said an officer with the unit I.
The suspect, identified as Umesh Shirsekar (28), reached the spot in a Ford car, and was intercepted by a team. “We searched Mr. Shirsekar’s car and found a bag in the trunk, which contained old notes. The notes were counted and were found to be worth ₹1.38 crore. Mr. Shirsekar was arrested.” the officer said.
The police are interrogating him to find out whether he was trying to dispose of his own notes or was doing it on someone else’s behalf.
On Tuesday, the central unit of Thane Crime Branch received a tip-off about a group trying to dispose of old notes in Dombivli. Accordingly, a team laid a trap near Palava City township and intercepted a Skoda car in the evening.
“There were four men in the car, and a search revealed that it contained ₹1.98 crore in demonetised notes. The four were arrested, and the money taken into custody,” said a Crime Branch officer.
The accused have been identified as Ajit Surve (57), Ravindra Chaudhari (34), Padamsingh Bisht (27), and Prakash Patil (34).
The Thane Police have informed the Income Tax department about the seizures.
