Chennai: In the biggest seizure of demonetised notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 by any agency in Tamil Nadu, the Chennai police on Thursday recovered `45 crore from a costume tailoring shop in Kodambakkam.

Police raided the place early Thursday morning based on a tip off and found 11 bags with bundles of old notes stuffed in them. The shop — MV Ramalingam & Co – is a costume tailoring store which specialises in stitching uniforms for government officers.

The owner of the shop Dhandapani, who was questioned by the police, claimed that the money belonged to a city jewellery shop owner.

Costume tailoring shop
Costume tailoring shop

The money stashed in the shop was meant to be exchanged, he said. Dhandapani, also explained that the jewellery shop owner had asked him as a favour to keep the money until he could find a way to get it exchanged legally. The police said that the owner of the seized cash has a jewellery shop in Sowcarpet as well as a finance firm in Teynampet.

Police said the seized cash would be handed over to the RBI. “We are not making any arrest. The case will be handed over to DRI or income tax department,” the police said. This is the first time the Chennai police are seizing such a huge stash of banned notes, particularly after demonetisation of old notes came into effect on November 8 last year.

In March, the Chennai Police had seized demonetised notes amounting to Rs 1.02 crore and Rs 3.45 crore in two different incidents from people who were attempting to get them exchanged. The volume of the current seizure is much bigger.