I-T department Thursday seized new currency notes worth Rs 4 crore during a search operation in Bengaluru. I-T department Thursday seized new currency notes worth Rs 4 crore during a search operation in Bengaluru.

Officials from the Income Tax Department’s Karnataka and Goa region operations seized Rs 6 crore, including Rs 4.7 crore in new Rs 2000 denomination, along with huge bullion and jewellery from four persons – two government engineers and two contractors – following searches conducted on Wednesday and Thursday. In the search operations, apart from the cash in excess of Rs 6 crore, gold bullion weighing 7 kg approximately and jewellery in excess of 7 kg were also found, the I-T department said. Out of the total cash of Rs 6 crore found as much as Rs 4.7 crore is surprisingly in new currency of Rs 2000 notes. The I-T department has also seized several property documents and high-end luxury cars including a Lamborghini.

“Huge stacks of Rs 2000 notes have been recovered. The cash is amounts to over Rs 4 crore. The counting of the seized currency is still on. This is one the highest seizures of the new currency. Some entry operators and bankers are under the scanner,” a senior I-T department official told news agency PTI.

Identity cards belonging to several individuals were also found during the searches. I-T department suggested that these cards might have been used to exchange old currency notes at banks.

On Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate raided several hawala operators across the country and seized Rs 1 crore in foreign exchange. The seized notes were Rs 50 lakh in old currency and Rs 20 lakh in new currency. The ED conducted searches at multiple locations in Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Mumbai and other cities.

In Chennai, Tamil Nadu Police seized Rs 20.55 lakh worth new currency notes from a BJP youth leader on Saturday. Arun, 26, is BJP’s youth wing secretary from Salem. He was actively campaigning for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation drive on social media. Tamil Nadu Police, in a joint operation with I-T department, also busted a currency exchange racket and seized Rs 1.3 crore in Rs 2000 notes.

More updates to follow

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