Rs 2000, raids, currency, cash seized
The cash in new Rs 2,000 rupee notes was recovered by the Kerala police late on Saturday night.IANS

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegation that he had information on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "personal corruption" may not have unravelled, but Indian authorities are striking gold every day with regard to seizing unaccounted cash. The latest one was in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

Authorities seized Rs 2.19 crore, including Rs 69.35 lakh in new currency notes, from a cloth merchant in the city based on a tip-off and suspect involvement of bank officials in the case.

"A team lead by the deputy director Gurnam Singh raided a cloth merchant Vishvamitra Mahajan, the owner of Mahajan Cloth House in Sector 30 and seized Rs 1.50 crore in Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes of demonetised currency. Also, Rs 69, 35, 500 in new currency were seized from his house in Sector 22," the New Indian Express quoted Ram Gopal, deputy superintendent of police (Central) of Chandigarh Police, as saying. 

The new currency seizure (of Rs 69.35 lakh) is disputed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has estimated the amount as Rs 18 lakh.

Vishvamitra Mahajan and his son Inderjeet have been arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

"We are investigating the role of the senior bank officials who had provided the accused with new currency notes," Ram Gopal added.

The seizure comes a day after ED officials seized Rs 93 lakh, all in new currency notes, from seven middlemen in Karnataka.

In a related development, the income tax department, Karnataka and Goa, said that Rs 29.86 crore, including Rs 20.22 crore in Rs 2,000 denomination, have been seized since November 9, 2016.

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