Cash seizures: Bengaluru to Mumbai, bank officials to politicians

Other cases: Rs 49.5 lakh (Rs 42 lakh in Rs 2,000s) seized by Bengaluru police from three businessmen on suspicion these were to be exchanged at a commission. Former DySP Babu Noronha, 60, retired from intelligence department, arrested by Bengaluru police for allegedly robbing two realtors of Rs 83 lakh in new cash after promising an exchange of Rs 1 crore in old cash. I-T searches on 10 properties of a group of engineers and contractors linked to government unearthed Rs 4.80 crore in Rs 2,000s from the Bengaluru apartment of contractor Ibrahim Shariff, Rs 5 lakh in new 500s from government engineer S C Jayachandra, and Rs 78.70 lakh from others. CBI case names bank managers Suryanarayan Bairy (Karnataka Bank) and Umashankar Renuka) Dhanalakshmi Bank) as being among alleged facilitators of exchange along with a logistics firm, Secure Value India Ltd. ED has arrested Jayachandra. Two other seizures add up to Rs 52 lakh.

Maharashtra
Rs 1.04 Cr in car

Tuesday: Rs 1.33 crore in Rs 2000 currency notes seized by police from eight businessmen in three separate raids in Thane and Navi Mumbai. Includes Rs 1.04 crore from three men in a Toyota Innova who allegedly intended to use it for exchange at a commission. The rest was seized from two groups of merchants.

November: Rs 80 lakh in new notes by I-T from a South-Mumbai caterer who had allegedly outsourced the job of conversion.

December 6: Rs 30 lakh in 2,000s from a sub-agent in Ghatkopar who used used bank accounts of chawl residents to convert notes.

Gujarat
A dozen seizures

December 9: Biggest of 12 hauls so far was Rs 76 lakh from three men and a woman in a car. Only the men were detained; they reportedly told police they were middlemen for a builder in Nashik who would have exchanged old currency notes for a commission.

November: Seized by various agencies — Rs 4 lakh in 2,000s, allegedly a bribe, in Kutch from three people including two Kandla Port Trust (KPT) officials; Rs 9 lakh including 325 Rs 2,000s from two men in Dahod; Rs 6 lakh from two scooter-borne men in Rajkot; Rs 6.5 lakh from a Rajkot property dealer; Rs 8.16 lakh from another scooterist, again in Rajkot; Rs5.5 lakh from another man in Rajkot; Rs 4 lakh from a Jamnagar scrap dealer; Rs 25 lakh including Rs 21.46 lakh in 2,000s from a motorist in Porbandar

December 10: Rs 21 lakh (partly in new notes) from four persons in Ahmedabad; Rs 14 lakh from a businessman’s house in Bharuch; Rs.19.68 lakh (13 lakh in 2,000s) from the house of a Vadodara businessman.

Andhra & Telangana

Postal official’s kin

Since November: Rs 70 lakh in new currency from homes of relatives of senior superintendent of a post office, Hyderabad, K Sudheer Babu. Arrested by the CBI for diverting new currency from post offices. Also, Rs 58 lakh by police from eight friends who reportedly collected it from locals for exchange at a commission. Also in Hyderabad, Rs 29.07 lakh (in 2000s as well as 100s) seized by police from three persons in a vehicle. By Vijayawada police, Rs 6.80 lakh from a group exchanging for a commission. On Tuesday, Rs 37 lakh from a real estate agent and a mason trying to exchange the cash at 20%.

Madhya Pradesh

Actor with new cash

December: By Hoshangabad police, Rs 43 lakh from television actor Rahul Chelani; no police case, I-T probe on. Indore Police seized Rs 8 lakh from an individual, Kotwali Police Station another Rs 15.40 lakh (Rs 14.40 lakh in new cash) from two men.

Delhi

Rs 2.60 Cr from law firm

December 10: A joint I-T and police raid unearthed Rs 13.65 crore (Rs 2.60 crore in 2,000s) from a law firm; owner Rohit Tandon (also a Supreme Court lawyer) questioned.

November 24: Outside Nizamuddin station, Rs 27 lakh from a group from Mumbai who had allegedly exchanged their money.

Rajasthan

Rs 1.38 Cr in bank

December 12: Rs 1.57 crore (Rs 1.38 crore in 2,000s) lying at Integral Urban Co-operative Bank in Jaipur. Allegedly belonged to absconding Keshav Badaya, secretary of an NGO whose chairman is also the bank’s chairman Suresh Kumar.

November: Rs 1.32 crore (Rs 14 lakh in 2,000s) from three vehicles moving to Delhi from Alwar, Alwar Urban Co-Operative Bank vice president Ashok Joshi detained.

Punjab

Bank heist, exchange

Ludhiana: Rs 5 lakh from alleged bank thieves. Those arrested had allegedly stolen Rs 27 lakh from a bank and exchanged part of it with bank officials for a 25 per cent commission. Again in Ludhiana, Rs 72 lakh (out of Rs 1.20 crore) from an auto parts manufacturer during raids.

Other states

The Kolkata candidate

Assam: Assam CID seized Rs 1.5 crore in 2000s and new 500s from a Guwahati businessman’shome, source being probed.
West Bengal: By STF, Rs 31 lakh in 2,000s from Kolkata businessman Manish Sharma, who contested on a BJP ticket in 2016 assembly elections. Arrested along with 6 others.

Kerala: Rs 8 lakh from premises of a tobacco wholesaler in Ernakulam, who allegdly deployed staff to draw new currency.