Old notes worth Rs 1.04 crore found on four, believed to be carriers

Mumbai: Worli police early Friday arrested four persons allegedly in possession of scrapped Rs 500 denomination notes amounting to Rs 1.04 crore, and is trying to ascertain origin of the notes. The accused were caught after the police received a tip-off that some men were visiting Gandhi Nagar area in Worli to exchange currency.

The arrested accused are suspected to be carriers and not owners of the scrapped currency and said that they were on their way to meet someone who had promised to exchange it for legal tender. During initial interrogation however, each of the four gave different names when asked about the person they were supposed to meet to get the scrapped notes exchanged.

An official from Worli said that the accused were found walking toward Dianik Shivner road leading to Gandhi Nagar at around 2 am on Thursday. "Our team had received a tip-off and was waiting at the spot and soon saw four men arrive carrying heavy bags. The bags and the men’s behaviour seemed suspicious and we questioned them. After bringing them to the police station, we searched their bags and found them filled with bundles of old Rs 500 notes,” said the official. He added that each person was carrying one bag each with notes in it.

The accused informed police that they were only agents who had been hired to exchange the discontinued notes. “They told us that they had been approached and handed over the money and asked to meet someone in Worli who would collect the old notes and hand over new ones,” said a police source. He added that the four men who hail from different parts of the city gave four different names as to the source of money.

Gajanan Desurkar, senior police inspector, Worli police station, said, "We are investigating the case and trying to trace both - the source of the money and also who it was going to be handed over to. We have informed the Income Tax department too about seizure," he said.