Three persons were detained carrying Rs 56 lakh, all in Rs 2,000 denomination notes, in Tripura’s Dhalai district, police said on Friday.

They were detained as they could not explain why they were transporting such a large number of high denomination notes which are being phased out by the RBI.

The three men identified as Kishore Kumar of Uttar Pradesh, Rajan Kumar Sonia of Bihar and Sonkumar of Maharashtra were moving from Dhalai district’s Ambassa to Agartala in a vehicle bearing an Uttar Pradesh number plate.

“The vehicle was stopped at Bethbagan checkgate on Thursday evening. While searching, police found 2,800 notes packed in six bundles from a secret chamber of the vehicle”, said a police officer.

“The three persons, aged between 27 years and 36 years, were taken into custody for interrogation. We have told them to produce documents for carrying such a huge amount of unaccounted cash. We will involve the Income Tax department if they fail to provide necessary documents”, the officer said.

The trio told police that they run a jewellery business in Uttar Pradesh and had come to Ambassa to “exchange the cash”. However, it is not clear whether they had come to exchange the Rs 2,000 notes with lower denominations or for buying gold.

“We have begun a probe to unearth the source of money and its destination. If needed, police will involve the Income Tax department”, he said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had recently requested the public to deposit Rs 2,000 banknotes into their own accounts or exchange them for other denominations by September 30, 2023.

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