Editor’s Note
This report details a significant seizure of alleged hawala funds by police, highlighting ongoing efforts to intercept informal financial networks. The involvement of income tax authorities underscores the cross-agency nature of such financial investigations.
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Sagar police seized ₹3.47 crore in hawala cash from a vehicle being sent to Mumbai. The money was to travel from Katni to Mumbai via Bhopal. Police interrogated two young men who were acting on the instructions of a diamond and gutka trader. The case is being investigated by income tax officials.
Madhya Pradesh is increasingly becoming a terminal for hawala operations. A month after ₹2.96 crore was caught in Seoni, Sagar police have now seized ₹3.47 crore in hawala money. Police received information that the cash was being transported from Katni to Mumbai on the orders of a diamond and gutka trader. Following this, police are gathering clues about some businessmen from Mumbai and Gujarat.
Sagar police set up a blockade on the Bhopal highway late at night and stopped a four-wheeler. Bundles of ₹500 notes were found stuffed under the middle seat of this vehicle. Police spent the entire night counting the notes. Meanwhile, income tax officials from Sagar and Jabalpur have also begun their investigation as part of the police action.
Motinagar police station in Sagar received information late Monday night that a vehicle laden with crores of rupees was passing through NH 146. This money was being sent via hawala from Katni to Mumbai via Bhopal. Motinagar TI Jaswant Singh, along with his team, set up a blockade on the highway and stopped a Scorpio vehicle with registration number MH47BB 8843.
During the search, when the middle section of the vehicle was inspected and the middle seat was lifted, bundles of ₹500 notes appeared. Police were stunned to see the hoard of notes. The vehicle, loaded with approximately ₹3.47 crore, was seized and brought to the police station where police spent hours counting the notes.
Police are interrogating the two young men caught from the vehicle. Both youths had arrived in Katni by bus from Mumbai a day earlier. Both have told police that they work for a businessman involved in the diamond and gutka trade in Mumbai and Gujarat. It was on his instructions that they came to Katni by bus.
Police are verifying the truth of the information provided by the two youths. Meanwhile, an investigation is also ongoing to determine if the number plate of the vehicle from which the cash was recovered is genuine or has been changed.
According to the police count, the cash being sent to Mumbai via hawala amounted to over ₹3 crore 47 lakh. This includes ₹3.20 crore in ₹500 notes and approximately ₹27 lakh in ₹200 notes that were seized.
Police are currently gathering information on which trader in Katni loaded this cash into the vehicle via hawala and to which location in Mumbai it was to be delivered. Meanwhile, following information about the crores in hawala, income tax officials from Jabalpur and Sagar have also taken charge.
In addition to the police, the income tax team is also engaged in finding out whether the cash was actually brought from Katni or if it was brought to Katni from another city and then dispatched further after changing drivers.