Hawala racket busted; Rs 1.9 lakh seized

Hyderabad: The sleuths of Task Force on Tuesday busted a Hawala money racket and seized Rs 1.9 lakh.

Patel Jitender Kumar Kanji Bhai alias Kanji Bhai, 42, Patel Narendra, 38, Patel Dinesh, 32, Patel Alkesh, 32 and lorry driver Abdul Majid 44, travel agent Imranuddin were arrested by police for indulging in illegal monetary transactions. Meanwhile, the kingpin of the gang, Vijay, a native of Gujarat, is still at large.

According to police, Jeetu Bhai, an employee of Vijay Bhai of Ahmedabad, used to collect money from unknown persons as per the instructions of Vijay Bhai and used to deliver the same to the designated customers. Jeetu Bhai would be provided with a code and the recipient would pay the money after disclosure of the said code, police said. They were using the serial numbers of ten rupee notes as code for a particular transaction. On handing over the said ten rupee note, the amount earmarked for a particular customer used to be delivered by the broker, the police said.

The police intercepted their vehicle in front of Central Park Hotel, Hyderguda. On frisking, they found five handbags containing bundles of Indian currency.