16 held in connection with seizure of Rs 96cr in scrapped notes

Kanpur: As many as 16 people, including a noted builder, were arrested by the Kanpur police in connection with the seizure of over Rs 96 crore in demonetised currency notes from the builder’s ancestral house in Swaroop Nagar here.

Senior Superintendent of Police Akhilesh Kumar Meena said on Wednesday that Rs 95 crore belonged to Anand Khatri, the builder, and over a dozen others owned the remaining amount. They were arrested along with the builder.

This is the biggest seizure since old currency notes in the denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 were banned in November 2016. Meena said the NIA had gathered inputs about some companies and individuals involved in converting illegal currency into legal money and shared the information with Inspector General of Police, Kanpur, Alok Singh.

The IG collected more information about those running the money conversion racket and briefed the SSP Kanpur, directing him to carry out raids discreetly. Following a tip-off, the SSP formed several teams headed by SP (East) Anurag Arya and SP (West) Gaurav Grover.

They nabbed four men involved in conversion of illegal money from the Swaroop Nagar area. Initially they tried to mislead police, but later during intensive interrogation they broke down and confessed their crime, the SSP said.

They divulged information about the builder involved in converting black money into white by exchanging the old currency notes. It was revealed that huge amount of demonetised currency was stored in guny bags in the builder’s ancestral house near Gole Chauraha in Swaroop Nagar.

The police later nabbed the builder, who led the team to the site where the currency was stashed, said SP (East) Anurag Arya. The police also raided three hotels from where 11 people were arrested, he said.

Preliminary probe indicated that the cash was hidden with an intention of converting it into legal currency, the SP said, but discounted the possibility of any terror angle.