The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday arrested Kolkata-based businessman Parasmal Lodha for allegedly exchanging Rs 25 crore in old currency notes for the newly issued cash, ANI reported. Lodha has stakes in real estate and mining. He was remanded in ED custody for a week by a Delhi court.
Income Tax sleuths had earlier detained Lodha at Mumbai airport in connection with cash confiscated from the office of lawyer Rohit Tandon in Delhi, News 18 reported. Officials said he came under the department’s scanner for hosting a high profile wedding for his daughter. The event was reportedly attended by top bureaucrats, politicians and members of the film industry. Lodha had links to Shekhar Reddy, who was apprehended on Wednesday on similar charges, according to the News18 report.
The agency has conducted numerous raids across the country to crack down on hawala transactions. On November 8, Prime Minister Modi had announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes will not be legal tender anymore. He had said it was a step to fight black money, corruption and the circulation of counterfeit currency in the country.
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