City police found A. Abu Bakker, 52, a daily wage labourer residing in Pullara near Malappuram district in Kerala, who arrived in the city by bus on Tuesday, with Rs. 59 lakh in unaccounted cash.
However, Mohammed, a jeweller in Kerala, has stated that the money is the result of a genuine transaction and that there are documents to prove that this is true.
Police said that Abu Bakker had been asked by Mohammed, a jeweller from Manjeri Town in Malappuram, to go to Chennai and meet a person at Chennai Central Railway Junction to receive payment for a consignment of gold jewellery. Mohammad promised to pay Abu Bakkar Rs. 2,000.
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Abu Bakker went to Chennai, received a box full of cash and covered the currency with chocolates following Mohammad’s advice to say the box contained imported chocolates.
On Monday night, he boarded a Coimbatore-bound bus at Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus at Koyambedu.
At Thiruvalluvar Bus Stand at Gandhipuram in Coimbatore, Chandramohan, Head Constable from Race Course Police Station, asked Abu Bakker about the contents of the box. When told that it contained imported chocolates, Chandramohan asked him to furnish the bills.
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When Abu Bakker refused to furnish the bills or open the box, the Head Constable took him to the police outpost at the bus stand and opened the box. Below a layer of chocolates were 58 bundles of Rs.1,000 notes and two bundles of Rs. 500 notes.
Chandramohan immediately informed his superiors and took Abu Bakker to the Race Course Police Station.
Mohammed, the jeweller from Manjeri town, has been asked to come to Coimbatore to account for the cash. Mr. Mohammed had reportedly told the police that the cash was involved in a legitimate deal and that he would come to Coimbatore on Wednesday with the relevant documents to prove the same.
Meanwhile, sources in the City Police said that the incident has been referred to the Income Tax Department.