CHENNAI, Dec 23: The Enforcement Directorate here has unearthed a major foreign exchange racket and seized Indian currency notes totalling more than Rs 25 lakh from three firms involved in the racket.

The Enforcement Directorate sources said here another Rs 25 lakh, the sale proceeds, deposited in various banks, have been blocked.

Initial estimates indicated that more than Rs 15 crore worth of transaction had taken place in 1996-97.

Following a tip-off, the Enforcement Directorate raids were conducted on the premises of these firms, including in Tiruchirapalli, where one of the firms has a branch. The firms were indulging in foreign exchange transaction illegally, the sources said, adding that some of the persons involved were being questioned though so far nobody had been detained.

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