The Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Saturday seized foreign currency worth over Rs 2.6 crore from a passenger during a raid at Howrah railway station in West Bengal. The foreign currency seized included US dollars, Saudi riyals and Singaporean dollars.
Acting on intelligence inputs, RPF personnel monitored the Patna-Howrah Jan Shatabdi Express, which arrived in Howrah at 1.35 pm. During the surveillance, Constable Supriyo Jash noticed a suspicious individual, identified as Hemant Kumar Pandey (50), carrying a backpack and moving towards platform 8. The team followed and detained him for questioning.
Upon searching the suspect’s backpack, USD 2.89 lakh, 52,500 Saudi riyals and 600 Singaporean dollars were recovered. The total value of the recovered foreign currency is estimated to be Rs 2.60 crore. A coolie, Jay Prakash Ray, was called as an independent witness.
When questioned about the source of the foreign currency, Pandey, who is a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, failed to provide any valid documentation.
Initially, he attempted to mislead the officials but later admitted that he was transporting the cash from Gorakhpur to Park Street in Kolkata.
The operation was carried out by a team comprising ASI Ajay Turi and Constable Supriyo Jash of RPF/Crime Intelligence Branch (CIB) /Howrah, along with D Mandal of RPF Howrah Post.
As per directives from the competent authorities, the matter was immediately reported to the Custom House in Kolkata, and the Howrah Government Railway Police (GRP) for further legal proceedings.
After completing all necessary legal formalities, the seized foreign currency and the detained individual were handed over to the Inspector of Customs of Custom House for further investigation.
