Hyderabad: To smuggle the illegally collected foreign currency notes out of the country, two city-residents have wrapped the notes in false bottoms created in the sweet and biscuit boxes. The duo was arrested by the sleuths of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on Monday night when they attempted to flee to Dubai with the foreign currency worth about `1,48,75,000.
The passengers were intercepted by the DRI sleuths on specific information that two persons who were scheduled to fly to Dubai from Hyderabad in an Indigo airlines flight and an Air India flight were carrying huge amounts of foreign currency.
One passenger was scheduled to depart to Dubai in Indigo airlines flight (6E 26) and another passenger was scheduled to leave in an Air India flight (AI 951). The passengers were intercepted and their baggage was checked to only find the foreign currency concealed in the boxes of eatables.
On a thorough examination, sweet boxes and biscuit boxes were found in the baggage, which had eatables and also false bottoms used to conceal the foreign currency notes.
“The foreign currency notes were wrapped in specially created false bottoms in the boxes in which several bundles of Saudi Riyals were concealed. Each passenger was carrying 3.5 lakh Saudi Riyals valuing at `1,48,75,000,” the officials of DRI said.
The officials said that during interrogation, the passengers have stated that the currency was obtained from unauthorised dealers and was aware that it was illegal to smuggle foreign currency.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Act and Customs Act, and the currency notes were seized, and the accused duo was arrested on Tuesday, said the officials.
It may be recalled that, during May this year, the DRI sleuths had recovered `1.5 Crore worth of foreign currency from a city-based woman. The woman was arrested for smuggling 11.5 kg gold from Dubai and the currency notes were recovered from a star hotel where she was staying in the city.
Last month, a city-based businessman was held by the Rachakonda police, when he was carrying unaccounted foreign currency valued at `2.93 Crore at Vanasthalipuram.
