Bhubaneswar: Odisha Crime Branch Economic Offences Wing (EOW) officials Wednesday questioned depositors who were waiting to exchange Rs2,000 notes in long queue in front of RBI Bhubaneswar office.
One of the EOW officials stated that they visited RBI to inquire about the long queue. They asked some of the depositors about their identities and the source of money.
The official further stated that no complaints have been received so far in this regard.
It can be mentioned here that there has been a long queue in front of RBI offices for the last few days.
A local source claimed that each depositor is carrying Rs 20,000 in Rs 2,000 denomination notes to exchange them for smaller denomination currency notes. When questioned, some of depositors revealed that they get about Rs200-Rs 300 for their time spent waiting in the queue and getting the notes exchanged. However, they did not reveal the identity of the persons who allegedly paid them and got their Rs 2,000 notes exchanged.
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When asked, Regional Director of RBI Bhubaneswar said that they have no information regarding people getting paid to exchange Rs2,000 notes. He further informed that on a daily basis, they are receiving around Rs2 crore in Rs2,000 denomination notes. Approximately 95 per cent of this sum is being exchanged, while only 5 per cent is being deposited into their accounts.
PNN