Seized banned currency: Did it belong to VIPs?

Belagavi: An illegal confinement of a Bengaluru resident, arrested in Khanapur in connection with the seizure of demonetised currency notes a few weeks ago in Belagavi, in a separate cell in Hindalga jail in Belagavi, has raised serious doubts about the possible involvement of VIPs in the currency exchange racket.

According to the sources, few weeks ago a resident of Bengaluru was arrested by the police along with five others following a raid at a local hotel and '3.11 crore in Rs 500 and 1,000 of old currency notes were seized.

The wife of the arrested Bengaluru resident has informed a local human rights group here about how her husband was confined illegally at Hindalga jail and jail authorities were not allowing him to meet anybody, though no serious cases were filed against him.

She alleged that her husband was struggling hard for a week for conversion of old currency with new notes, before a team of police came to his house and took him away.

While she is unaware of who all handed over the old currency notes to him, but alleged the money belonged to the VIPs who got him arrested to ensure that their names never got disclosed.

Sources said, a major share of the money seized belonged to an IPS officer, who had contacted the network involving the arrested Bengaluru's resident to get it exchanged with new currency notes. 

The officer is believed to have agreed to pay a hefty commission to all those involved in getting it exchanged for new currency notes.

However, the police sources in Belagavi deny this version, but said an investigation was on to ascertain the facts.

It also came to light through sources that the network involved in the exchange of notes had more amount of old currency in its possession and what the police caught was merely a part of it. 

According to the arrested Bengaluru's resident, who is lodged in Hindalga prison, a middle-age woman met him along with a person called Iyengar and handed him Rs 1.15 crore in old currency notes asking him to get it exchanged at the earliest.

Later, he along with two of his friends handed over all the old currency notes to another resident of Bengaluru. 

However, when the old notes were seized by the police, they took only him into custody while his two friends and the person who accepted old currency notes from them were let off, he added.

Sources said the police filed cases against him under IPC Section 392 and 395 (robbery and extortion) and illegally confined him in a separate dark cell in Hindalga jail. 

So far, the police have not disclosed the source from where the arrested five accused in the case got the old currency notes nor did they reveal any other details.