It was a hoard of demonetised currency with a difference: not Indian rupees for clandestine exchange, but Turkish lira with a face value of ₹71 crore.
A group of four in Bengaluru, including a 40-year-old constable, tried to sell the demonetised lira to a businessman, police said. All four were arrested on Tuesday and 78 notes of 500,000 denomination recovered. The exchange rate is ₹18.27 to the lira. “Though the currency has been demonetised in Turkey, it is redeemable and legal tender. It can be exchanged till December 2019,” said City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood. The gang was busted while negotiating the sale for ₹27 lakh at a multiplex in Marathahalli.
When police surrounded the men, the constable, Nagaraju, waved a service pistol, threatening to shoot one of the team members. He said he was with the State Intelligence Bureau, and flaunted an ID card, but was soon overpowered.
Nagaraju said he got the money from his contact, Channareddy, who escaped from the parking lot.
The others arrested include Shivaraju (50), Nagaraju’s friend from Chitradurga, Murali (40) of Mattikere and Aravinda Prasad from Davanagere.
The pistol with ten bullets was issued to Nagaraju when he was with the SP Squad in Chitradurga. He was transferred to Chitradurga kote, but did not return the weapon. Nagaraju met Channareddy, the prime accused from Andhra Pradesh, when he was arrested in 2016. Nagaraju helped him get bail and became his partner in the money racket, police said.