K'taka: Hawala dealer's 'secret chamber' reveals Rs 5.7 crore cash, 28 kg gold bars

During the search operations the sleuths chanced upon a secret chamber in the bathroom of the hawala operator's residence. On opening the chamber, they came across the illegal monies and jewellery.

Income tax officials carried out raids on the house of a hawala operator leading sleuths to 28 kg of gold bullion, 4 kg of gold jewellery, Rs 5.7 crore in new 2,000 denominations and Rs 90 lakh in old Rs 100 and Rs 20 notes.

Sleuths from the Income Tax department raided 15 premises across Karnataka and Goa on Friday. Raids were also conducted on casino operators and bullion traders in Hubballi and Chitradurga districts.

'One of the hawala operators is also actively involved in converting old notes and was accumulating bullion using old currency,' the Income Tax department said in a press note.

During the search operations the sleuths chanced upon a secret chamber in the bathroom of the hawala operator's residence. On opening the chamber, they came across the illegal monies and jewellery. All unaccounted wealth has been seized by officials.

Various incriminating documents have also been recovered and income tax teams are further analysing and investigating the same. The major haul of new denomination currency is from the Challakere town in Chitradurga district. The searches are currently under way in many locations.

OneIndia News