Police arrest 3 in Assam with Rs 20 lakh in new currency

Guwahati, Dec 10 : At least three persons have been arrested in Assam for allegedly being involved in exchanging new currency of Rs 2,000 denomination with old currencies for commission, police said on Saturday.

According to the police, they were arrested on Friday night from a house in Hatigaon area here.

"We raided the house based on a tip off. A group of three persons were waiting in the house with Rs 20 lakh in the denomination of Rs 2,000," the police said.

It said they were supposed to exchange the amount with Rs 26 lakh in old currencies from another group.

"We are interrogating the three to ascertain from where they managed to get the new currency in such a huge amount," the police said.

It added that the role of some bank officials cannot be ruled out behind the racket.

It may be mentioned here that along with the rest of the country the people of Assam have been struggling for new currencies for last one month now.

Although the banks have claimed to have taken steps to make the new currencies and smaller denominations available across the state, some people, particularly in remote areas, have still been facing hardships.