THANE: The Thane crime branch detained a city-based tuition teacher with demonitised notes worth Rs 23 lakh. Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted a transit of the notes and caught Feroz Yusuf Ansari.

The police learnt that a man was about to conduct a possible transit of the scrapped currency notes. A team laid a trap along the service road opposite Korum Mall, and intercepted Ansari around 5.30pm on Saturday. He had a bag with him, and on searching the same, the police found the Rs 23 lakh in Rs 1000 notes.

During preliminary questioning, Ansari said that he was trying to get his old notes exchanged. Police are checking if someone was trying to con him. Ansari was let off with a notice and would be questioned again, said the police. The Vartak Nagar police registered a non-cognisable complaint against him, under sections 3, 5 and 7 of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017. The police added that they would intimate the Income Tax department about the seizure, to initiate appropriate action.