Vijayawada: Sleuths of the City Task Force of Vijayawada police arrested 12 people this evening and seized Rs 18.48 lakh, including Rs 16.88 lakh in notes of Rs 2,000 denomination, from their possession.
The gang was luring people under the pretext of exchanging scrapped banknotes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, a Task Force official said, adding they used to charge 10-20 per cent as commission for exchanging the old currency notes.
“We are investigating how these people got the new Rs 2,000 notes when there is a huge scarcity of cash in the market. We may question some bank officials based on the information provided by the arrested persons,” the official said.
Meanwhile, Director General of Police in-charge Nanduri Sambasiva Rao said the police in different parts of the state have so far seized currency worth about Rs 6 crore since the demonetisation was announced on November 8.
With reports that some top level police officials were hand-in-glove with currency exchanging gangs in some districts, the state police chief said an inquiry was being conducted into the allegations.
“We will take appropriate action based on our inquiry findings,” Sambasiva Rao said.