ED arrests three, including two Sri Lankan nationals, for smuggling foreign currency

All three passengers were attempting to fly to Colombo on a Sri Lankan Airlines flight along with the said currency.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Officials of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bengaluru Zonal Office on Wednesday arrested three persons, including two Sri Lankan nationals, allegedly trying to smuggle foreign currency totalling worth ₹2.12 crore.

The accused, identified as Vimalraj Thuraisingam, who was attempting to smuggle the currency from Bengaluru to Colombo, was accompanied by another Sri Lankan national, Thileepan Jayanthikumar, and one Indian national, Veera Kumar, the ED said. All three passengers were attempting to fly to Colombo by a Sri Lankan Airlines flight.

Based on a tip-off from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel stationed at Kempegowda International Airport, the ED team searched Vimalraj Thuraisingam and examined the two co-passengers and seized the currency.

The ED said the person from whose bag the currency was recovered could not explain the source and stated that he had purchased the same from Chennai by paying cash. The seized foreign currency includes Euros, US Dollars and Rials.