Delhi Police raided a hotel in Karol Bagh in New Delhi and recovered Rs 3.25 crore in demonetised notes from five persons, police said on Wednesday.
Based on information, the Crime Branch conducted a joint raid with Income Tax officials late Tuesday night at Taksh Inn in Karol Bagh and found five persons in two rooms of the hotel carrying a total amount of Rs 3.25 crore, said Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).
The five men are carriers and have been identified as Ansari Abuzar, Fazal Khan, Ansari Affan, Ladu Ram and Mahaveer Singh, he said.
The recovered amount was kept in different suitcases and cardboard boxes. It was found during interrogation that the money belongs to some Mumbai-based hawala operators, said the officer.
“They had hired packaging specialists who pack these notes in such a manner that they are even undetectable by airport scanning machines. Experts in packaging are using some tapes and wires which pass through X-ray,” he said.
The Income Tax department has seized the cash and is analysing the mobile phone details of these people since their phones contain details of lot of other hawala operators, he added.
On Tuesday, an official of the Reserve Bank of India in Bengaluru was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation for allegedly trying to exchange Rs 1.50 crore in old notes illegally.
Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes on November 8, raids have been conducted in various parts of the country.
In Assam, raids at a businessman’s house in Guwahati revealed around Rs. 1.55 crore in new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 currency notes. Lakhs were found during raids in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
Tax officials say around 120 crores has been seized till now and 1,500 crores in unaccounted wealth have been traced.
Images: Officials said that the notes, which belonged to Mumbai-based hawala operators, were packed in a way that scanning machines could not detect. Photographs: ANI/Twitter
-- With inputs from Agencies
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