The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday said it had seized Rs 36,34,78,500 in demonetised notes during its probe into the Kashmir terror funding case.
"We have seized demonetised currency of face value Rs 36,34,78,500 and arrested nine persons..." the NIA told the press.
During the investigation, it had emerged that persons and entities linked to the separatists and terrorists were still in possession of a significant amount of demonetised currency, which they could not deposit or convert during the period earmarked by the government.
Surveillance was mounted on such entities, which led to unearthing of a conspiracy wherein a gang of such people was making an attempt to convert this demonetised money into valid currency.
On 6 November, the NIA team intercepted the gang members at Jai Singh Road near Connaught Place in New Delhi. They were carrying 28 cartons filled with demonetised currency notes of denomination Rs 500 and Rs 1000 in 4 luxury vehicles.
A total of 7 persons were initially apprehended and brought to NIA headquarters for further questioning, along with the demonetised currency notes. Three other associates of this gang were apprehended later in the evening and were also brought for questioning to the headquarters.
After initial questioning, the said 9 people were arrested on Tuesday, and will be produced in a special NIA court on Wednesday, 8 November.
The seizure came just a day before the first anniversary of Narendra Modi announcing the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The opposition has time and again said that demonetisation had made no significant impact on curbing terrorism and its financing from across the border.
However, a few hours after the arrests, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said data shows that the flow of funds to the terrorists in Kashmir as well as in left-wing extremist-affected areas, has clearly been choked after demonetisation. She added that as a result of this, the number of stone-pelting incidents in Jammu and Kashmir in the summer of 2017 has come down.
The minister said that the lack of funds has also caused a lot of attempted bank robberies in the state.
(With IANS inputs)
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