Banned Notes Worth Rs 97 Cr Seized 

Kanpur: As many as 16 people, including a prominent builder, were arrested in connection with the seizure of nearly Rs 97 crore in demonetised currency notes kept in gunny bags stacked inside a bed from the builder's ancestral house here.

The UP government said prima facie no terror link had been established. Among those nabbed, four were involved in the conversion of illegal money in the Swaroop Nagar area, leaving police baffled as to whether some bank employees were involved in clandestinely replacing the demonetised currency notes in strong rooms.

Police suspected the possible role of even some RBI staff in the matter and was investigating from that angle too. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has its regional office in Kanpur.

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The wads of currency notes in the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 were neatly stacked inside the bed and kept in suitcases and also stuffed in sacks, the photographs of which went viral in the electronic media. "In the raids conducted jointly by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Uttar Pradesh Police, nearly Rs 97 crore in old currency notes have been recovered," principal secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar told reporters in Lucknow. To a question as to whether there could be any terror link, Kumar said, "Prima facie, there is no terror link." The Centre had banned currency notes in the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in November, 2016 to flush out black money, eliminate fake notes and stop terror-funding.

Senior Superintendent of Police of Kanpur Akhilesh Kumar Meena today said 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. Meena said the National Investigation Agency (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 Kanpur 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.

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Initially they tried to mislead police, but later during intensive interrogation they broke down and confessed to their crime, the SSP Kanpur said. They divulged information about the builder involved in converting black money into white by exchanging the old currency notes, leaving the quizzing sleuths wondering as to how this could have been possible without the involvement of bank staff. It was revealed that a huge amount of demonetised currency notes was stored in gunny bags in the builder's ancestral house near Gole Chauraha in Swaroop Nagar.

Police later nabbed the builder, who led the team to the site where the notes were stashed, SP (East) Anurag Arya told PTI. Police also raided three hotels from where 11 people including Santosh Yadav, a professor, 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 he too discounted the possibility of any terror angle. The arrested were identified as builder Anand Khatri, professor Santosh Yadav, key liasioner Mohit Dhingra, Sanjay Agarwal, Manish Agarwal - all residents of Kanpur, Koteshwar Rao from Andhra Pardesh, Sanjay Kumar from Varanasi and Anil Yadav from Saharanpur.

Others arrested were Santosh Pathak and Sanjay Rai — both from Mirzapur, Ram Asrey, Dhirendra, Sanjeev Agarwal, Omkar Yadav, Ali Husain, and a woman from Andhar Pardesh, whose identity was not immediately known. They have been booked under various sections of the IPC and the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, which makes possession of more than 10 pieces of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes a criminal offence, attracting fine of Rs 10,000 or five times the cash held, whichever is higher.

PTI