New currency notes worth Rs 71 lakh seized in Karnataka

I-T officials have seized new currency notes worth Rs 5 cr so far from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu

Close on the heels of Income Tax department officials confiscating over Rs 5 crore in Bengaluru, another Rs 71 lakh has been seized from the possession of three persons, who had the amount in denominations of Rs 2,000, 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," the Udupi Superintendent of Police K T Balakrishna said, while adding the police recieved a tip-off related to the crackdown.

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 up 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 several premises in Bengaluru, Chennai and Erode with the department saying the seizure of cash in new currency was over Rs 5 crore.

On December 2, IT officials said the cash found in possession of two engineers and two contractors following the December 1 searches, had totalled up to Rs 5.7 crore. The notes recovered were all in denominations of Rs 2,000.

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