Rs 20 crore Naxals' black money deposited in Chhattisgarh banks

Police said if the money was found to be of Naxals, legal action will be taken against the bank account holders.

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Raipur: More than 50 banks in Naxal-hit areas of Chhattisgarh have recorded deposits of nearly Rs 20 crores within two weeks.

Based on an intelligence report, transactions in these accounts have been put on hold.

Police suspect the money deposited belonged to the Naxals and that the latter is using the bank accounts of other people to escape the demonetisation drive.

Police said they are not making the names of the account holders` public as of now, but if the money was found to be of Naxals, legal action will be taken against the latter for helping the former.

Special Director General (Naxal Operations and Special Intelligence Bureau) Durgesh Madhav Awasthi told ANI: "We have issued an instruction that after demonetisation. The Naxals will bring out huge hoarded money buried in the ground for mobilisation in a bid to save it from becoming illegal tender. They are applying a two-way approach to save their money: first, they are returning old money to their contractors and asking them to provide new currencies after getting it converted; secondly, they are using their rural and urban networks to deposit their money in banks."

"We are getting such information from all eight Naxal-hit districts. In the last three to four days, we have identified people in whose accounts money was deposited, and have sent their names to the SP (Superintendent of Police), Collector and banks, asking them to stop transactions in such accounts till it is established that the deposited money belongs to account holders. The depositors will themselves speak about the source of money. It is also possible, in some cases, that money belongs to the depositors," he said.

"However, as per information, Maoists have deposited big amounts in the accounts of people having very little transactions or having `Jan Dhan` accounts. I have instructed Superintendents of Police and bank officials to inquire into such accounts. More than 50 accounts have been traced so far, but their numbers are increasing. We have information of Rs 15-20 crore being deposited in such accounts," he added.