Note exchange: Now, Katni rail station under CBI scanner
The Jabalpur unit of the CBI has started a preliminary inquiry into the alleged conversion of demonetised currency worth ₹3.72 lakh into new ones at the ticket booking counters of Katni railway station, 90 km from Jabalpur.
The Jabalpur unit of the CBI has started a preliminary inquiry into the alleged conversion of demonetised currency worth ₹3.72 lakh into new ones at the ticket booking counters of Katni railway station, 90 km from Jabalpur.
This comes even as the agency’s investigation into similar conversion of the old ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes into new currency at Habibganj and Bhopal railways stations is underway.
The suspected conversion of the old notes at Katni railway station was done within a period of 20 days from November 8, the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of the high value currency, CBI sources told Hindustan Times. The anomaly came to light following scrutiny of documents seized by the CBI and West Central Railway’s (WCR) vigilance department during a surprise check at Katni station’s passenger ticket booking section and its cash division on December 19.
The cash division is tasked with depositing the day’s collection in the bank.
Earlier, a similar inquiry was registered by CBI’s Bhopal office against unidentified accused on December 12 for suspected conversion of the demonetised currency totaling around ₹11 lakh at Habibganj and Bhopal railway stations. The inquiry was ordered following the scrutiny of documents seized from the cash division of both the railway stations during a surprise check on December 8.
As per the sources in CBI, ₹6 lakh and ₹ 5 lakh in old currency was converted at Habibganj and Bhopal railway stations, respectively.
CBI officials have till date questioned more than 40 employees of both the railway stations. The railways employees have claimed that the conversion was done as “part of internal management of cash”, which is a routine thing.
The CBI officials, sources said, would now conduct a scrutiny of the cash transactions at the two stations before demonetisation was announced.
Searches at Jabalpur station too
The vigilance department of West Central Railway (WCR) on Thursday carried searches at the ticket booking counters and the cash office at Jabalpur railway station. The searches were carried out to check if the new currency notes received at the ticket counters had been exchanged with the denotified notes of ₹500 and ₹1000, WCR chief public relations officer Surendra Yadav said. The vigilance officials are verifying the documents pertaining to cash details of the ticket counters for the period November 9 to December 22. There are six reservation ticket counters and 11 general ticket counters at the Jabalpur railway station.