Nearly a decade after the demonetisation of Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes, Ahmedabad police have busted an organised network involved in exchanging banned currency for commissions, seizing Rs90 lakh in the city.
The Naroda police arrested Anil Rabari, a resident of Krishnanagar, Ahmedabad, and Kushnpal Singh Sodha from Patan district after recovering the demonetised notes from their car near Galaxy Cinema crossroads. Two other suspects, Laxman Desai and Jayesh Patel, managed to escape by alerting each other about police presence.
The accused reportedly brought the banned notes to Ahmedabad intending to exchange them via an angadia courier network, with plans to hand them over to Jitendrasinh Rathod of Bijapur. Rathod was later arrested, and investigations revealed that the notes were allegedly sent by textile trader Jaybhai Shah from Surat.
During interrogation, police discovered that Shah had first connected with Rathod during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019–20, when limited avenues for depositing old notes were available. The accused allegedly earned commissions of 10–15% for facilitating the exchanges.
Authorities are continuing investigations to locate the absconding suspects and trace the wider network operating across Gujarat and Maharashtra. Police also suspect that some of the demonetised notes may have been intended to be exchanged through channels linked to the Reserve Bank of India, though details remain under inquiry.
Despite nearly 10 years since demonetisation on November 8, 2016, cases involving banned notes continue to surface. Significant past seizures in Gujarat include:
Rs89 lakh – Ahmedabad, Naroda (March 2026)
Rs78 lakh – Vadodara (August 2025)
Rs1.90 crore – Sanand–Bavla road (May 2025)
Rs3.50 crore – Navsari (February 2019)
Rs42 lakh – Surat, Udhna area (March 2017)
Police said investigations are ongoing to uncover the full scope of the network allegedly involved in circulating and attempting to exchange demonetised currency.
