Police detained the youth as he was not able to give details about the source of the money. The police team initially took the man, identified as Rawthar Sahib Malik, a resident of Nainiappan Naicken Street in Mannadi, to the Triplicane police station for inquiry. However, he was later handed over to the ED officials because it involved suspicious money transactions.

 

Police said that a passer-by had alerted them about a man who was depositing large amounts of cash at an Indian Bank ATM kiosk near Tarapore Towers on Anna Salai. 

This raised the man’s suspicion, leading to the alert. Based on this, a two-member police team rushed to the scene and nabbed the man. When the police personnel questioned the man, he gave contradictory statements. 

Following this, they examined his bag and found bundles of currency in the denominations of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500, totally valued Rs 17.80 lakh. 

Police personnel asked Sahib Malik to show the source of funds but he could not. He reportedly told the police that a person from Dubai had asked him to collect Rs 20 lakh from a man in Chennai and deposit the amount in different accounts. Police sources said he contended that he was depositing the money in bank accounts, which was not illegal.

 

After conducting inquiry with man, police informed the central agencies – Income Tax department and Enforcement Directorate – about the development. Later he was handed over to the ED sleuths.