Karnataka: Congress MLC's kin arrested with Rs 9 crore demonetised notes

Meanwhile, Veeranna Mattikatti, the Congress MLC has claimed that he had nothing to do with either his son-in-law or the case at hand.

The Bengaluru police arrested Congress MLC Veeranna Mattikatti's son-in-law along with 14 others for illegally possessing Rs 9 crore in demonetised currency notes. Praveen Kumar who was arrested by the officials of the city crime branch is suspected to be part of a bigger money exchange racket. Mattikatti, a Congress MLC and former chairman of the Karnataka legislative council has distanced himself from his son-in-law.

The Bengaluru police had arrested a middleman last week and recovered Rs 3 crore in demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Initial investigations revealed that the money was being transported for exchange with new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 currency notes.A probe in the case led the police to Kumar.

"Raids were conducted at residences of the accused on the basis of information received while probing a previous case. Rs 9.1 crore in demonetised notes were found and seized. Fourteen people have been detained and 13 mobile phones and two cars have also been seized. We are in the process of decoding how this racket worked. The money was being used to exchange it with new legal tender," said S Ravi, additional commissioner of police, crime.

All 14 members are suspected to be running a currency exchange racket but were caught when the police arrested one of the middlemen near Shankarapura in the city last week. Rs 3 crore that was seized from the man was meant to be exchanged with new notes to favour a real estate businessman. Following the leads in the case, police landed at Kumar's residence in Benson town where raids were conducted on Saturday.

Demonetised notes were found stashed there. Initial information suggests that Praveen Kumar along with 13 others, who are realtors and private businessmen, was taking old currency notes from various people and exchanging them with new notes.

Congress MLC distances himself

Meanwhile, Veeranna Mattikatti claimed that he had nothing to do with either his son-in-law or the case at hand. "I am not in touch with my son-in-law for at least 6 months now. I have no knowledge about him or his activities and have no role to play in it. Let the law take its course," said Mattikatti. He claimed that his distance from his son-in-law was a personal matter and he did not wish to elaborate on the same.

The police have registered cases against the 14 accused and are in the process of identifying the source of the new as well as demonetised currency notes.

OneIndia News