Kolkata: Police seize over Rs 1.5 crore in old and new notes

Kolkata/Midnapore : The police have seized Rs 1.48 crore in demonetised notes in Kolkata and Rs 8 lakhs in Rs 2,000 notes in West Midnapore district, and arrested five persons in the two cases. Kolkata Police sleuths seized Rs 1,48,50,000, entirely in old Rs 500 notes, from an organisation in central Kolkata and arrested three persons in this connection, a senior officer of the city police said. Acting on a tip-off, Kolkata Police Anti-Rowdy Section arrested three persons -- Pradip Roy, Arun Singh and Sanjiv Ghosh -- in a raid from their office late last night. During questioning, the trio allegedly said that the amount was meant to be delivered to one Govinda Agarwal as part of a business deal. "We are probing whether this was part of a hawala deal or not," the officer said. Meanwhile in West Midnapore district, the police today seized Rs 8 lakhs in Rs 2,000 notes near Debra and arrested a man who runs an NGO, and his driver. Police said the force intercepted Purna Sankar Ganguly's car and seized Rs 8 lakhs in Rs 2,000 notes, which he allegedly exchanged for Rs 10 lakhs in demonetised notes. Ganguly was returning from Debra and heading to Midnapore after exchanging the notes from someone who took Rs 2 lakh as commission. Police said they were investigating how Ganguly obtained so much cash in Rs 2,000 notes and if any bank official was involved in the case.