Cops find Rs59 lakh worth demonetised notes at Navi Mumbai jewellery store

The Kamothe police have found unaccounted banned notes of Rs1,000 and Rs500 denomination amounting to Rs58,99,500 at a jewellery store in Sector 12 on Tuesday evening

The Kamothe police have found unaccounted banned notes of Rs1,000 and Rs500 denomination amounting to Rs58,99,500 at a jewellery store in Sector 12 on Tuesday evening.

Acting on a tip-off, the Kamothe police raided Ruchi Tamka’s store, RJ Jewellers, where they found the cash. (HT PHOTO FOR REPRESENTATION)

Acting on a tip-off, they raided Ruchi Tamka’s store, RJ Jewellers, where they found the cash. “We received a call at the police control room informing us about banned notes at the store. Within minutes, one of our beat marshal teams raided the store,” said senior police inspector Ashok Naik of Kamothe police station.

“We have not seized the notes as Tamka claims that he collected them from his clients a few days before the notes were demonetised,” he said, adding that Tamka, a resident of Lalbaug, owns three jewellery stores in Navi Mumbai.

The police have informed the income-tax department about the incident. “The income-tax department officials will conduct an inquiry. If they find anything amiss, legal action will be taken against him,” he added.

In a similar incident, the Navi Mumbai crime branch (unit 1) officials have detained four people, including a real estate developer, for carrying old banknotes of Rs1,000 amounting to Rs1 crore, which were allegedly unaccounted for, at Vashi last week. They were later released, said the police.