Hyderabad: A city-based realtor who collected foreign exchange illegally and planned to convert it to Indian currency at Chennai was held by Rachakonda police’s Bhongir special operations team (SOT). Police seized Rs 2.93 crore worth of dollars, riyals, dirhams and euros and handed the money over along with the accused, Keerthi Kumar Jain, 54, to the Enforcement Directorate.
The intelligence gathered by the SOT helped in nabbing Kumar, a native of West Godavari, minutes before he boarded a bus to Chennai.
According to the Rachakonda police, Kumar, a Goshamahal resident, is in the real estate business. For the last few years, he had been illegally exchanging foreign currency for tourists into Indian currency through agents by offering commissions. Bhongir SOT personnel received a tip-off regarding Kumar and arrested him from in front of a hospital at Autonagar in Vanast-halipuram.
“Kumar deducts his commission and provides the money to travellers. He was running the business illegally in an organised manner, which is an offence under sections 3 and 4 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA),” said Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat.
