Hyderabad: Man with Rs 70Lakh black money held

Hyderabad: Rachakonda’s Special Operations Team (SOT) sleuths apprehended a man who worked at a diamond store in Hyderabad while he was carrying Rs 70 lakh in unaccounted cash on Saturday.

The police said that the cash was concealed in a jacket and was brought to the city from Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said that the SOT sleuths (LB Nagar zone), while on vehicle checking duty in connection with the forthcoming Parliament Elections at RK Puram X roads, noticed a person who travelling in an auto and looked suspicious. Upon frisking the suspect, several bundles of cash in Rs 2,000 denomination were found in a jacket worn by him.

The suspect has been identified as Chandrakanth Varma, 33, a native of Maharashtra. He was working as a marketing agent at the diamond store run by one Kotti Chandraprakash. His work involved getting raw material and tools from different parts of the city to the store.

During questioning, he confessed to the police that on March 7, he had been to Raipur to meet one Sunil Soni and collect Rs 33 lakh from him. One week later, he visited Raipur once again and met an associate of Sunil who gave him Rs 70 lakh in cash to be delivered to his employer.

He concealed the cash in the jacket and reached the city in a bus.

“The accused, Sunil Soni, had been sending hawala money through Chandrakanth to the latter’s employer. Chandrakanth had done this several times earlier. Based on his confession, the cash, jacket, and two mobile phones have been seized, and he was handed over to the Neredmet police for further action, while the cash is being given to the Income Tax department,” said the Commissioner.

He added that the owner of the store has absconded and that his teams are on the job to nab him.