Six held for depositing Rs 7 lakh hawala money

CHENNAI: Police nabbed a suspect and apprehended five others subsequently for depositing hawala money using cash deposit machines in ATM kiosks. While the first man was caught at an ATM belonging to Punjab National Bank in Mylapore, the rest were nabbed based on his inputs.
Police said sub-inspector Ilayarajah and constable Muthu Pandi of the Mylapore police station, clad in plain clothes, were having tea near Nageshwara Rao Park when they heard a few people mumble about a man occupying an ATM vestibule for at least 30 minutes.“The policemen inquired the man, who claimed he was depositing cash. They then revealed their identity as policemen and the man tried to bolt away. The two chased and nabbed him,” an investigating officer said.
Police identified the suspect as Mohammad Arafat, 19, of Pudupet and recovered 21,000 from him. Based on inputs given by him during interrogation, police nabbed his associates Mohammad Ali, 23, of Pudukottai; Abdul Khader, 30, of Karaikudi; Khader, 23, of Tirupattur and two others.
Police personnel on sensing the transactions were of hawala money, passed on their custody to the income tax department officials.
Based on initial inquiry, I-T officials said the men were carriers and might have been asked to deposit the money from different ATM kiosks in intervals by their handler. The suspects claimed to have deposited 7 lakh to a particular bank account. I-T officials are trying to get details of the account, the source of the funds, the ATMs they used to make deposits and to know who their handler is.