The Navi Mumbai police seized Rs35 lakh in new currency notes and gold biscuits weighing two kilograms from six people travelling in a car at Panvel in Raigad district of Maharashtra.
Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted an Indica car at Adesh circle in Panvel town on Saturday night and arrested six people, from whom they seized Rs35 lakh in new currency notes of the denomination of Rs2,000 and little over 2 kilograms of gold.
“We seized Rs35 lakh in new currency notes from two arrested persons, while we seized gold biscuits weighing over 2 kilograms from four other occupants in the car,” a senior officer attached to Panvel’s Kandeshwar police station said on Sunday.
The police said that the two persons, from whom they seized new currency notes, claimed that they owned a general store and that the money belonged to them.
The four others, from whom gold biscuits were seized, are gold smiths working for a jewelry store at Pune.
Two persons -Devram Solanki and Kumaram Choudhurywho were detained with cash told the police that they were carrying the money to deliver it someone, while four others said that they were carrying the gold biscuits to sell them to someone.
The police identified four detained gold smiths as Nanaji Matkare, Raghunath Mohite, Santosh Pawar and Suryakant Kande, all residents of Pune.
The New Panvel police have, meanwhile, passed on the information about the seizure of cash and gold to the Income Tax department. “The IT department will look into the manner in which the two arrested business have obtained new currency notes to the tune of Rs35 lakh,” the police officer said.