CHENNAI: Police on Friday quizzed an Oman Navy officer after a showroom management expressed doubt over the genuineness of the currency he handed out.
Sources said Khalid-Al-Toubi, a serving officer in Oman Navy, has been in the city to tend to his ailing mother admitted in a leading speciality hospital on Greams Road since December 22. On Friday, he had gone to the Phoenix Market City in Velachery where the cashier of a store tipped off police on suspicion about the genuineness of the currency.
Police seized `91,600 from the possession of the Navy official and found the currency to be first quality Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), believed to have been printed in Pakistan. But Khalid produced receipts for the exchange of 600 Saudi Riyal at a money exchanger. Authorities from Oman Embassy contacted the local police and offered to verify the officer’s claims.
Joint Commissioner of Police (South) A Arun carried out a probe at the Guindy police station and the officer was let off after the enquiry.
Drug Couriers Held
Two Chennai women, aged 50 and 64, were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau at the Chennai airport on Thursday after they were found to be acting as couriers to smuggle `20 lakh worth of party drug to Malaysia for a commission of `10,000.
The bureau sleuths arrested the women when they were waiting to board a Kuala Lumpur-bound flight at 9 pm. Mallika Kumar (50) and Rajeswari (64) initially said they were going to visit a relative in Malaysia and were carrying milk powder.
“When we checked the contents, we found it was Ephedurine, a party drug, popular in south Asian countries,” said an official source. Officials said they began checking all the passengers scheduled to leave in that particular flight, based on a tip off, during which they zeroed in on the two women.
They added that they are in the process of tracing the mastermind who had employed these two women, to act as couriers for a commission of `10,000.