Bigger cash syndicates are still clandestinely picking up abolished paper currency right in the heart of New Delhi a year after prime minister Narendra Modi ordered demonetization of 500 and 1,000 rupee bills, an India Today investigation has found.

Just a day before the first anniversary of the note ban, the NIA seized Rs 36 crore in outlawed currency linked to suspected financing of anti-India activities. Nine people were also arrested from the capital.

But India Today's investigation found bigger cash cartels could still be on the loose, swapping invalid banknotes with the legal tender.

The probe caught several shady operatives on camera willing to buy demonetized currency between 12 to 25 percent of its original value, apparently in connivance with some bank employees.

At Sarita Vihar in South-East Delhi, a cash conduit named Shivanand offered to buy as much as Rs 200 crore in revoked notes. He guaranteed instant pickup and delivery of cash consignments. "Give it with one hand and take it with the other. It will be picked up from your place," Shivanand told India Today's undercover reporter.

"Our person will check the money at your home. He will call and the van will arrive. It will be a 'hand-to-hand' transaction." Rates for the swap, he disclosed, were fixed in accordance with quantity. Shivanand proposed to buy Rs 25 crore in old 1,000 bills at 25 percent of their original worth and Rs 5 crore at 12 percent. "It would be around 12 to 13 percent for Rs 5 crore and 25 percent for 25 (crore)," he said.

India Today probed further and met Sohail and Fahim, other members of Shivanand's gang, at Kisan Ghat in central Delhi. The duo insisted old currency would be checked, picked and exchanged by none other than a bank official. "See, our man will come from a bank. He will prove his identity. We will come later with our consignment. He (the bank official) will check your cash," Fahim said.

India Today's undercover reporter then chased down the suspect official to his workplace, a leading public-sector bank in Delhi's Okhla area. Sanjay, the staff, not only struck a deal for currency exchange, he also revealed that a larger cash syndicate was collecting old banknotes in Delhi from hoarders of black money.

"They operate out of a shop. They collect it (consignments of old cash). They have set targets to achieve for bulk pickup," said Sanjay, sitting at his desk. "Just recently, Shivanand got a consignment of Rs 2.37 lakh from a doctor. I took it for exchange at 10 percent of its value. It's all happening in the market," he disclosed.