Mumbai: The Mumbai police has seized Rs 10.2 crore in cash, out of which Rs 10 crore were in the scrapped Rs 500 notes and Rs 10 lakh comprised of the newly issued Rs 2000 notes, from a car at Chheda Nagar Junction in Tilak Nagar, Chembur. In another incident, Dhananjay Gawade, a Shiv Sena corporator from Nalasopara was detained for carrying new notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2000 denomination worth Rs 40 lakh. The cash was found in Gawade’s car after the local crime branch unit and the income tax officers intercepted his car. The police said that in addition to Rs 40 lakh in new denomination, over Rs 1 crore was also found in old notes. Gawade, who is the leader in the Nalasopara in Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) has been detained in the Vasai unit of the crime branch for questioning.
The Rs 10 crore seizure at Tilak Nagar has been the biggest haul by the Mumbai police since November 8, when the Centre demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The Tilak Nagar police arrested three people who are being interrogated about the cash’s origin and destination. The police is trying to ascertain if it was an attempt to replace black money in old notes. Based on specific inputs, the cops kept a watch at the traffic junction for the car. Deputy commissioner of police of zone VII Shahaji Umap said, “The cash belongs to the Vaidyanath Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd. The bank manager and two more people from Pimpri-Chinchwad branch were transporting this cash from Ghatkopar to Pune. The acquired cash also includes new Rs 2,000 notes worth Rs 10 lakh. We are interrogating the accused to find out more details.”
On Thursday, the Kalyan police recovered Rs 21.22 lakh from two people at Kalyan. This is the third incident in a week, after the one in Ulhasnagar where police seized Rs 9.50 lakh. The two accused in Kalyan were identified as Mayur Thakkar, who has a milk business while the other person Tushar Manek has a garment business. Both, in the age group of 20 to 30, are residents of Kalyan. Apart from seizing Rs 21.22 lakh, the police have also seized their two-wheelers and also the income-tax department, who are now investigating the case.
Another major seizure:
A flying squad of the election commission had found cash worth Rs 91 lakh in a car belonging to BJP minister Subhash Deshmukh’s Lokmangal multi-state co-operative credit society. The opposition Congress and NCP had demanded that the BJP minister be sacked from the Cabinet. The seizure was made at Lohara in Osmanabad district by the election officials who had been carrying out raids to seize large amounts of cash being transported ahead of local body polls in Maharashtra.
