CANACONA: Police at Polem check post seized old currency notes worth Rs 1.48 crore from the luggage compartment of a Kerala registered car on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. Canacona police said that all the five occupants of the car in which the old notes were found are residents of Kerala and are arrested under Sections 489-C read with 34 IPC and Section 5 (a)(ii)(A) read with 7 of the Specified Bank (Cessation of Liabilities) Act 2017.
The police team that apprehended the accused persons with the discarded currency consisted of ASI Ramakanth Velip, police constable Bagwan Sawant and Home Guards Eknath Gaonkar and Gouresh Velip.
“They were caught by Polem check post police carrying cash to the tune of Rs 1.48 crore in old currency of Rs 1,000 when they were on their way from Goa to Kerala’’ sources added.
The accused persons Abdul Kadar (44), Saleem Reahiman (33), Rasak (45), Aboobaker Siddeques (24) and Yusuf Rehaman all of them residents of Kasargod in Kerala were produced before the judge at a local court on Friday evening who remanded them in judicial custody for days.
Police said that upon counting they found 14800 notes of 1000 denomination, totalling to 1.48 crore which were in the boot of the Maruthi Suzuki Swift car.
The car was intercepted by police at Polem check post at 8.45 pm on Thursday and on search they found the scrapped currency notes in the dicky of the car police said.
DySP and SDPO of Quepem Kiran Poudval later speaking to the media said that South Goa SP Arvind Gawas who visited Canacona police station to guide the investigation team has announced a cash reward to the police team who affected the seizure.
“Our preliminary investigation has revealed that three men from Panjim together with one of the accused travelled with the old banned notes from Kerala to Goa in a Goa registered high end SUV last week. All of them tried in vain to look for someone who can exchange the old notes with no success and that is when they decided to take the notes back to Kerala,” he said.
“To carry the notes back to Kerala, four of the five accused came to Goa with the Swift car and were proceeding to Kerala with all the notes in the dicky, when the police stopped the car for routine check if there was any contraband goods they found the scrapped currency in the dicky of the car,” Poudval said.
Canacona PI Tukaram Chavan informed the media that a police team has been dispatched to Panjim to look for the other three suspects who were responsible for getting the notes into Goa.
“Another team is leaving to Kasargod Kerala for further investigation in the case,” Chavan said.
