Demonetisation: ED seizes Rs 2.20 crore cash in Chandigarh

The Enforcement Directorate today seized Rs 2.20 crore from the premises of a cloth trader and few other locations here as part of its operation to check hawala trade in the wake of demonetisation.
On a tip off about illegal currency being stashed, officials said the sleuths of the agency swooped down on the premises of the cloth trader and other locations here.
They said while the total seizure is of about Rs 2.20 crore, Rs 18 lakh is in new notes, Rs 52 lakh is in Rs 100 notes, while the rest is in various old denomination notes.
Chandigarh's Deputy Superintendent of Police (Central) Ram Gopal said, "A team led by ED's Deputy Director Gurnam Singh swooped down on the house of Inderpal Mahajan at sector 22 here and recovered illegal cash in a huge amount".

"A total cash of Rs 2,19,35,500 has been seized from Inderpal Mahajan by the team of ED at around 1:00 AM," Gopal said.
"Rs 1.50 crore was in demonetised currency while Rs 69,35,500 was in new currency during the seizure," the DSP said.

A case has been registered against Mahajan under section 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent), 420 (cheating) and 120 B (conspiracy) of IPC and section 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The DSP said a case under unidentified bank officials has also been registered.
Police said the ED team took the "illegal" cash in its custody for further investigation.

The action has been taken under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and the searches are still on, they said.
The Enforcement Directorate has been undertaking searches and enquiry at various places in the wake of demonetisation.