Navi Mumbai: Rs 1 crore in old notes found inside car

Two real estate agents, who surreptitiously tried to convert their old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for the new Rs 2,000 notes, were arrested by the Navi Mumbai crime branch on Friday.

Two others with them were also arrested. The police seized around Rs 1 crore worth of old notes from the accused. The two other men arrested, who had promised the real estate agents new notes for old, had asked for a commission of 30 per cent on the transaction, the police said.

Senior inspector Ashok Rajput of the Navi Mumbai Crime branch got a tip-off that some people would be exchanging old cash for new notes at Sector 28, Vashi. They intercepted a Skoda car late that night and detained four people.

“We detained Prasad Patil of Raigad, Harishchandra Shinde of Navi Mumbai, and Pramod Padale and Avinash Jain from Byculla,” said Rajput.

When the police searched the car, they found Rs 1 crore in cash in the boot. “All the notes were in the old R 1,000 denomination,” said Rajput.

Upon inquiring further, the police learnt that Padale and Jain had promised Patil and Shinde, both real estate agents, help with converting their old cash into new.

“We have booked all of them under the Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Code and have also informed the income tax department. We are also inquiring how they were going to convert the cash into the new notes,” Rajput said.