Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
Adopting a novel modus operandi, these brokers were ready to launder black money
Two days after Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 rupee notes were withdrawn as part of anti-corruption measures, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted sweeping raids at Nagpur and Raipur to prevent laundering of black money using foreign currency exchange route.
A senior officer of Enforcement Directorate told The Hitavada that full fledged drive has been carried out in Nagpur at three places. The team visited foreign exchange outlets and also an establishment of a businessman in city. “Verifying documents of “money exchange” to prevent mischief by foreign exchange broker was the main reason behind the raids,” said the officer.
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| Enforcement Directorate |
Apart from Nagpur, the ED officials also conducted raids at three places in Chhattisgarh. Verification of documentation was continued till late evening. Sources informed that the ED had information that some foreign exchange brokers were converting black money into foreign currency to book profits. However, the ED officials refused to reveal the name of brokers and businessman as the verification was in primary stage. A businessman from Nagpur was also on the radar of ED for sending black money overseas through a foreign exchange broker.
Sources related to foreign exchange brokers informed that brokers are using documents of other customers to change the currency. However, the customers are unaware about the “modus operandi” of the brokers.
The “business” of exchanging “black money” by using this novel method gained momentum in city after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced unexpected move of banning existing high denomination Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
Gold worth Rs 80 cr traded in city
According to official sources who are keeping a close tab on unprecedented sale of gold after ban on high denomination currency, four major jewelers of Nagpur particularly from Itwari area have done business of Rs 70 to Rs 80 crore in last three days by accepting unaccounted cash. The jewelers have reportedly sold gold at rate of Rs 45,000 to Rs 47,000 by accepting banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Interestingly, the gold in physical format has not been delivered and in most cases, the jewellers have insisted to supply jewellery and not biscuit or coin. Due to rumours of raid and fearing some action, many jewelry shops in city preferred to keep their shutters down on Friday. Sources close to the jewelers told The Hitavada that those who minted maximum money during last three days could use documents of other customers to legally justify the transactions.
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