BENGALURU: In a major haul of new denomination currency from Challakere, a small town in Chitradurga district, the Income Tax department officials seized Rs 5.7 crores in Rs 2,000 notes during a search of the residence of a hawala operator. The operator had allegedly stashed the cash in a secret safe created in the bathroom of his residence.
The officials of the Panaji Directorate of the Director General of Income-tax, Karnataka & Goa raided casino operators and bullion traders in Hubballi and Chitradurga districts on Friday.
The teams searched around 15 premises spread across the states of Karnataka & Goa, based on the information that one of the hawala operators was actively involved in converting old notes and was accumulating bullion, using old currency.
"During the search operations, 28 Kg of bullion, about 4 KG of gold and Jewellery, Rs 5.7 crores of new currency in Rs 2000 notes, and Rs 90 lakhs in old notes (Rs 100 & 20) were seized from a secret chamber in the bathroom of the residence of a hawala operator.
Various incriminating documents have also been recovered and income tax teams are analyzing and investigating the documents. Notably, the major haul of new denomination currency is from a relatively small town Challakere in Chitradurga district.
This small town with a population of 50,000 is only 40 km away from the district headquarters," an official release stated. The raids conducted on Friday evening, continued through SaturdayThe raids were reportedly conducted on residences belonging to K. C. Veerendra, who runs a casino in Goa and is allegedly the kingpin in a cricket betting racket.
