Kalpetta (Kerala): The police have seized Rs.4 million in cash, believed to be hawala money, from a private bus here on Sunday and taken into custody a man called Nasreen, a native of Rajasthan.
The bus was coming to Kozhikode from Bangalore. The currency was found hidden under a seat. Nasreen was believed to be carrying the cash.
"The buses plying in this route have become a regular channel to bring hawala money into the state," said P.S. Gopi, deputy superintendent of police at Kalpetta, the headquarters of Kerala's Wayanad district.
This is the fifth such seizure of currency in the last five months. The police said most of this money was intended for people in Thamarassery and Koduvalli in the neighbouring Kozhikode district.
