Hawala racket: two arrested

District Superintendent of Police Pratap Dighavkar said that there were specific remarks on every bundle of currency notes recovered from the arrested.

“Some bundles were carrying remark of ‘H’ and remaining bundles were carrying remark of ‘S’. We suspect that ‘H’ stands for ‘hawala’ and ‘S’ stands for ‘secret money.’ Primary investigations revealed that suspects collected the money from Kolhapur and were taking it to Mumbai,” Dighavkar said.

“Investigations are on to know if the suspects are a part of the hawala racket and to identify the exact origin and destination of the money. We are also investigating if the money was being transferred for Assembly elections,” Dighavkar said.

“We would be seeking the help of Income Tax Department and Revenue Department,” Dighavkar added.

Inspector Andhalkar said,“The suspects were wearing specially designed jackets inside their shirts. We have recovered Rs 20 lakh from one jacket and Rs 10 lakh from another. The money was in bundles of currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination.”

The duo have been booked under section 41(1) of Criminal Procedure Code. The police would now be taking permission from the court for initiating action against them under section 124 of Bombay Act.