Karnataka: Rs 71 lakh in new Rs 2000 currency seized

Udupi: Close on the heels of I-T sleuths confiscating over Rs 5 crore in Bengaluru, another Rs 71 lakh have been seized from the possession of three persons in Rs 2000 denomination near Udupi, police said on Sunday.

"Rs 71 lakh was seized from three persons who were arrested for carrying new Rs 2,000 notes in their car without any documents at Bailoor village," Udupi Superintendent of Police K T Balakrishna said adding the police swung into action on a tip-off.

Bailoor village is about 32kms from here.

The three have been handed over to the Income Tax officials in Mangaluru for further investigation, he said.

Police intercepted the car on December 1 and found the currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination totalling to Rs 71 lakh in a bag.

The three occupants, Imran Hussain, Asif Umar and Deepak Shetty (driver), had failed to produce appropriate documents or provide explanation about the cash, Balakrishna said.

They were travelling from Mangaluru to Kudremukh for a business payment, he said.

Over 50 I-T sleuths and police personnel had searched premises in Bengaluru, Chennai and Erode (Tamil Nadu) as part of the country-wide operations, with the Department saying the seizure of cash in new currency was over Rs five crore.

On December 2, IT officials said the cash found, after searches were launched on December 1, on the premises of two engineers and two contractors, has risen to Rs 5.7 crore and the notes were in the denomination of the new currency of Rs 2,000.

"Total admission of unaccounted income by the group stands at Rs 152 crore. Investigations are on," they had said in New Delhi.