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Three held with ₹1 crore scrapped notes in Chandigarh
The accused have been identified as Amritpal Singh, 36; Manjinder Singh, 44; and Shiv Nath Sah, 30. They were staying on rent in Sohana, said police. One of the accused has been earlier booked in the Haryana Staff Selection Commission paper leak case.
Chandigarh Police on Sunday arrested three men, including one accused in the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) paper leak case, for allegedly possessing ₹1 crore in old currency notes besides a 32-bore pistol, five cartridges and two sharp-edged weapons.
The accused have been identified as Amritpal Singh, 36; Manjinder Singh, 44; and Shiv Nath Sah, 30. They were staying on rent in Sohana, said police.
Personnel of the Sector 39 police station were conducting checking ahead of the Independence Day when they received a tip-off about the three men coming from Mohali in a car bearing a Haryana registration number.
“The three were travelling in a Hyundai sedan and were heading towards Panjab University side when they were apprehended near the Sector 40/41 road. On searching the car, the weapons and demonetised notes were recovered,” said a cop, who did not want to be named.
Amritpal Singh is an MBA degree holder who is currently working as a computer operator at a private company in Panipat. He is already booked in the HSSC paper leak case at the Sector 3 police station. Manjinder Singh is into the business of solar panels while Shiv Nath runs a flour mill in Jalandhar.
The trio has been booked under the Arms Act besides Section 7 of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017. A district court sent them to three-day police remand.
On November 8, 2016, the Government of India announced the demonetisation of all ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes. The Prime Minister had claimed the action would curtail the shadow economy and reduce the use of illicit and counterfeit cash to fund illegal activity and terrorism.
On March 1, 2017, the Centre notified a law that made holding of more than 10 scrapped notes a punishable offence with a minimum fine of ₹10,000. A legislation was passed thereon to eliminate the possibility of running a parallel economy using the old currency notes.
Preliminary investigation reveal the accused took the money from multiple people in Jalandhar on pretext of getting it exchanged with new currency notes.
“The accused are changing their statements frequently during their stringent questioning,” said senior superintendent of police (SSP) Nilambari Jagadale. “Preliminary probe suggests that they came to the city looking for non-resident Indians (NRIs) who could get their old currency changed from the Reserve Bank of India in New Delhi. As weapons have been recovered from their possession, there is a possibility that they were looking to commit some crime. Every angle is being looked into.”
“The three claim to know a Nepalese man who would have helped them exchange the currency notes. In the past, they managed to get small amounts exchanged with the connivance of bank officials in Jalandhar. These claims need to be verified,” said an investigating official.
