Sambalpur: Police today intensified its probe into a major seizure of cash worth Rs 1.43 crore with Sambalpur Sadar SDPO and the Dhanupalli IIC questioning the manager of the State Bank of India (SBI)’s main branch in the city here.
Since most of the notes which include new Rs 2000 notes and Rs 500 notes and carry chronological numbers, police suspect that the same has been withdrawn from a particular bank. According to sources, the police have sought the help RBI in this regard.
“I cannot comment on the matter as the competent authority will do so. I do not know anything more than what is being shown in the media,” said branch manager of the Sambalpur main branch, Ashwini Kumar Dash.
The Sambalpur SP said once the origins of the notes are established, the arrested persons will be brought on remand for interrogation.
“There are many notes which are in a series which is difficult to obtain normally. We are trying to trace the notes of the series with the help of RBI’s currency chest to establish which banks were given these notes, following which we will take our investigation forward,” said Sambalpur SP, Akhileshwar Singh.
On the other hand, the Income Tax officials have also launched a probe into the matter.
Also Read: More than Rs 1.42 cr cash including new notes seized in Sambalpur; 8 held
Notably, the State Bank of India (SBI) Main Branch Public Relation Officer (PRO) Rasmi Ranjan Rout and liquor businessman Zeyarat Ali were among the eight arrested persons arrested by the police yesterday.
Other accused are: three sons of Zeyarat Ali – Md Qazzafi, Riffat Ali and Sabtin Ali; Pankaj Kumar Rout, brother of the SBI staff; Kapil Jhajharia and Rabi Trivedi.
Police seized cash worth Rs 1,42,91,500 including new currency notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 denominations from them.