Three persons were arrested from Balat in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district for possessing Bangladesh foreign currency worth over Rs 8 lakh meant for hawala transaction, a BSF official said today.
The BSF which apprehended these persons suspected that the money was meant for illegal exchange of Indian currency, the official said.
The BSF seized a total of Bangladesh Taka 10.83 lakh which was meant for exchange of currency through illegal means from Bangladesh Taka to Indian Rupees as revealed by the apprehended persons, the BSF spokesperson said.
The BSF however did not rule out the possibility of smuggling of contraband items in lieu of the money through International border.
The trio, identified as Manu Roy, Jyotish Pal and one Ram Dev, has been under the surveillance of the BSF Intelligence branch since the past few days, the BSF spokesperson said.
Since the arrested persons hail from Balat itself, the BSF said it was a cause of concern since the border residents are involved in such anti national activities.
Acting on a tip off, Manu Roy (45 yrs) was first rounded up and BD Taka 8.97 lakh was seized from him at the Balat market, the official said.
On his lead, the BSF troops along with the state police jointly raided the house of Jyotish Pal (42 yrs) and arrested him after seizing BD Taka 1.86 lakh, they said.
A third suspect identified as Ram Dev (51 yrs) was arrested later from his resident.
All the three persons were handed over to Ranikor police station for legal action as per law of land.
