Police seized firearms, cash and mobile phones. Express Police seized firearms, cash and mobile phones. Express

At a time when the common man is struggling to withdraw cash after standing in queues for hours at ATMs and banks, multiple raids by police across the country have unearthed several crores in new currency notes. In joint operations, the Income Tax department and police have till now confiscated more than Rs 100 crore in new currency and around 127 kgs of gold from Chennai, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Bengaluru and Gujarat.

Around Rs 90 crore in new currency was seized from Chennai, the maximum till now, followed by Rs 5.7 crore from Bengaluru, Rs 85 lakh from Maharashtra, Rs 76 lakh from Gujarat and Rs 10 lakh from Harayana. To make the situation worse, a survey conducted by the Income-Tax department at the Chandni Chowk branch of Axis Bank on Friday led to the discovery of 44 fake bank accounts with allegedly over Rs 100 crore stashed in them. Meanwhile, on Thursday, over Rs 40 lakh in new currency notes was seized in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh from a white-coloured Innova car bearing the registration number MP04 BC 2505, ABP Hindi had reported. The words ‘President of anti-corruption society’ was emblazoned on the number plate in thick gold lettering.

Also Read | Police seize new currency notes worth crores across several cities

Earlier this week, a Kolkata businessman Manish Sharma, who contested on a BJP ticket in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections, was arrested by police with Rs 33 lakh in new currency notes. In a similar incident, a BJP youth leader from Salem, who actively campaigned on social media for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive against black money, was arrested with Rs 20 lakh, most of which was in Rs 2,000 denomination.

Chennai: I-T recovers Rs 106-cr cash, 127 kg gold in searches

Police and tax authorities have been on a war-footing to probe instances of corruption, money laundering and large-scale hawala transactions in the wake of the demonetisation decision announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8. As usual, the common man has to swallow the bitter pill of demonetisation as anti-social elements continue to poke holes and circumvent the system.

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