City note haul

TT, Calcutta, Dec. 16: Three men ferrying Rs 1.42 crore in old notes were arrested in central Calcutta last night - the biggest seizure in the city since the demonetisation announcement on November 8.

The trio told police the money was being taken to a chartered accountant's office. Sources said the men were carrying 6,938 Rs 1,000 notes and 14,624 Rs 500 notes.

"The three have been booked under Section 41 of the CrPC because they failed to give a satisfactory explanation of why they were carrying the money. They said the money belonged to Bengal Emta. We are trying to get in touch with the company to verify their version," said joint commissioner (special task force) Vishal Garg, who is in charge of the detective department.

An official of the company said this evening: "I am not aware of the development. But frankly, I do not think it belongs to Emta." He declined to say anything more. His phone was switched off later in the night.

The three men - identified as Pradip Roy, 38, Sanjib Ghosh, 40, and Arun Singh, 55, - were granted bail by a court today. The section under which they have been booked deals with a policeman's power to arrest someone without any arrest warrant but holds no penal charges.

The chartered accountant to whose office the money was allegedly being taken was interrogated at Lalbazar for hours last night before being released. He was interrogated again today, sources said.

"We are not pressing any money laundering charges. We would inform the court and the other authorities, including the income tax department, to look into the matter," Garg said.

However, the arrest has raised questions on why someone who claimed to be carrying money on behalf of a company to a chartered accountant's firm has been booked when there is no cap on carrying cash.

An officer said though there was no limit on the amount of cash that could be carried, the person should be able to explain the source and reason of the transaction.

Note Seizure

The police have found Rs 8.5 lakh in Rs 2,000 and Rs 100 notes from a West Midnapore resident during a routine check on a national highway.

Purna Shankar Ganguly, who allegedly ran a fund-mobilising company but closed it down in the wake of the Saradha scam, was arrested along with his driver in Debra last night.

The police said he was returning from Calcutta after exchanging Rs 10 lakh in demonetised notes.