Bhubaneswar: In an interesting turn of events, central excise officials Tuesday seized 28 sacks of coins worth around 15 lakhs in the denomination of Re1, Rs2 and Rs5 from Baramunda area here in the city.
The weight of the coins, stacked in 20 gunny bags, is more than 1000 kg, officials said. A preliminary probe revealed the coins had been illegally transported from Kolkata.
“The coins were being transported on two buses from Kolkata. It was detected in the morning by the surveillance team,” a senior official said, adding that it would take more than three to four hours for the officials to count the total number of coins after the seizure.
While speaking to OrissaPOST, the official revealed, “Initially, the central GST and excise teams received information about the passenger buses that were carrying various goods from Kolkata without e-Way bill which is mandatory under the GST Act if the goods’ value exceeds Rs50,000. We stumbled upon the sacks filled with coins during our search. Subsequently, we detained the bus as per law.”
“We have written a letter to the RBI to examine the coins as we have no expertise in the field. However, we are yet to get any answer from RBI who sought a couple of days to go through all the legalities in the issue. The state chapter of RBI has also come across the seizure of such a huge quantity of coins for the first time in the state. We hope RBI officials examine the coins tomorrow,” adds the official.
Meanwhile, the manager of one of the buses told OrissaPOST, “We normally bring the coins twice every month from Kolkata and local traders who supply coins to small traders for a commission receive the currency from us.”
The sleuths examined the documents of the buses and found them violating the rules enumerated in the GST Act to avoid paying taxes.
