Rs 1.34 crore in new notes seized from gang near Chennai airport

The DRI sleuths intercepted the gang — three of them had come from south of Tamil Nadu to Chennai to collect the money by bus — when two persons on a two-wheeler brought the money to hand it over to the trio. DRI sources said that the new currency along with the dollars could have been brought to be smuggled out. Since the gang were known hawala operators, DRI may hand over the case either to the Enforcement Directorate or to the Income Tax department. 

DRI team intercepted the gang after getting specific information regarding the transaction and waited till the persons on the two-wheeler walked up to the trio to hand over the money. They intercepted the gang when they tried to hand over the bag containing cash. This is the first-of-a-kind seizure of the new currency from a hawala gang, proving that several crores of new currency notes have been sent across the country via hawala channels. 

Meanwhile, cash worth Rs 28 lakh in new Rs 2,000 denomination notes were seized from a Dubai-bound passenger at the city international airport on Thursday, a Customs official said. The passenger, identified as Ashraf Veetil (30), was scheduled to board a Jet Airways flight to Dubai when he was intercepted by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Customs, the official said. A search of his check-in bag disclosed that he was carrying Rs 2,000 notes, the official said. 

“These bills were hidden inside a jeans, over which he had kept various items like cooker, toys and tissue papers,” he said. During his interrogation, Veetil said that the cash belonged to a person named Siddiqui and he was carrying it out of India at a consideration of Rs 20,000 and a free air ticket to Dubai, the official said. Veetil has been booked under relevant sections of the Customs Act.