Two Tibetans held in Himachal, uncounted currency seized

Himachal Pradesh Police on Saturday seized about Rs.30 lakh in unaccounted foreign and Indian currency and detained two people who were on the way to McLeodganj, the abode of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, police said.

"We seized the cash from a luxury car bearing a registration number of Delhi and two occupants of the car, who are Tibetans, have been detained," a police official told IANS.

He said the foreign currency included Chinese yuan and US dollar. "The Indian rupees amounted to Rs.26 lakh," he added.

The vehicle was intercepted in Mehatpur in Una district, bordering Punjab.

Police believe the money was meant for a monastery in McLeodganj on the outskirts of Dharamsala town, some 250 km from here.

In 2011, police arrested two people from the same spot and seized unaccounted Rs.1 crore from them.

On the basis of their interrogation, police a day later raided the monastery of Tibetan religious head and 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the third most important Tibetan spiritual leader, on the outskirts of Dharamsala and seized about Rs.6 crore in unaccounted foreign and Indian currency.