₹1 crore demonetised cash seized from Chennai traders

In a major catch, police swooped on a seven-member gang, which tried to exchange demonetised notes worth ₹1 crore on Tuesday. The black money belonged to a Chennai jeweller and a builder. Four other accused were absconding.

With the Centre extending time to exchange the banned ₹1,000 and ₹500 notes up to July 20, by NRIs with the permission of the Reserve Bank of India, some gangs are trying to make easy money by depositing the banned notes, said Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) B.V. Ramana Kumar.

The jeweller, Ramesh Jain of Tiruvakthur in Tamil Nadu, and realtor Jayachandran of Purasaiavakkam, Chennai, who was in construction and finance business, gave the money to the gang for exchange. Police are trying to nab them, the JCP told the media.

Disclosing this to newsmen here on Tuesday, Mr. Ramana Kumar said Jain and Jayachandran had demonetised notes worth ₹5 crore. They tried to exchange ₹3 crore through a gang, which deceived them by giving fake currency, recently.

Then they contacted J. Nageswara Rao, a native of Velpur village in West Godavari district, who was pursuing B.Tech at an institute in T.Nagar in Chennai, for depositing ₹1 crore.

The student made a deal with them to offer ₹25 lakh worth new notes for ₹1 crore.

Visited several banks

He reportedly contacted Y. Rama Murthy of Chennai, J. Usha Srinivas Rao of Machilipatnam, Narendra, V. Sunitha, T. Nirmala Devi, P. Vayunandana Rao, Ch. Sudhakar, all natives of Vijayawada, and S. Vijaya Jyothi of Machilipatnam.

The gang tried in vain to deposit the notes, all in ₹1,000 denomination, at different banks in Ravulapalem, Rajahmundry, Kakinada and other places and came to Vijayawada, Mr. Ramana Kumar said.

On a tip-off, police rounded up the gang and seized the cash from the house of Nirmala Devi, at Ramavarappadu.

Six mobile phones and a four-wheeler were recovered from them, said Task Force Assistant Commissioner of Police P. Muralidhar.

The Patamata police registered a case under Section 420 IPC, Section 7 of Specified Bank Notes (Cessation and Libalities) Act, 2017 and under IT Act, said Circle Inspector K. Damodar.

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