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Sambalpur police has requested the Enforcement Directorate (ED), New Delhi to inquire into the seizure of Rs 1.43 crore from a car. Informing this to mediapersons, Sambalpur SP Akhileswar Singh said a copy of the FIR and details of cash seizure have been sent to the Enforcement Directorate, New Delhi.
He also revealed that a team of Sambalpur police has been sent to Bhubaneswar to gather information from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) about the seized currencies. They will try to ascertain the bank to which the new notes were issued for disbursal.
According to police, of the total cash seized, Rs 85.62 lakh was in new currency of Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,00 denominations while Rs 25.29 lakh was in old currencies of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations besides notes of smaller denominations. Moreover, the new Rs 2,000 notes totaled Rs six lakh and the bundles were of same series making it clear that it was issued from one bank.
The SBI has suspended its PRO Rashmi Ranjan Rout, the prime accused in the case. Country liquor baron Zeyarat Ali had confessed that Rout had helped in exchanging old currencies of Rs 45 lakh with new currency against payment of commission. The six others arrested include Zeyarat’s three sons.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate officials stated that they are examining the request.
Police on Monday had fast-tracked the investigation to trace the origin of the new currency. A team of police officials visited the main branch of SBI here and began investigation. They met the Chief Manager of the branch Aswini Kumar Das and also decided to request the RBI to obtain details of seized new currency based on the serial number of notes to track down the originating bank.
The Income Tax department too has also been informed about the seizure to pursue the source of income and tax angle, said the SP. It is leant that Zeyarat Ali operates many country liquor brewing units and foreign liquor shops across the region and also holds the power of attorney of many country liquor brewing units.