The Santoshnagar Police arrested eight people and seized Rs 58 lakh, all in new Rs 2,000 notes, from them during a vehicle checking drive in Hyderabad on Monday. The police will hand over the amount to the Income Tax office, which will ascertain the source of the currency notes. Action will be taken against them under the Income Tax Act.

Of the eight men arrested, seven hail from the YSR Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh while one is from LB Nagar area in Hyderabad, Telangana. The police told PTI that the men had collected the money from local people in their respective villages on an 8-10% commission. “They came to Hyderabad with the intention of exchanging the new currency with old notes of Rs 1,000 or Rs 500 along with a 25-30% commission to make easy money. Explaining the modus operandi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South zone) V Satyanarayana told The Hindu, “The old currency notes thus collected will be handed over to the original cash owners who will deposit them in their respective bank accounts.”

The arrests came after the police, acting on a tip-off, intercepted a car at IS Sadan in Santoshnagar and found the cash in the vehicle. The police are still looking for three more people, including a dentist, in connection with the case, according to The Hindu.