'Nagaraj tried to legalise banned notes through Chennai NRIs'

History-sheeter V Nagaraj had tried to legalise demonetised notes through six non-resident Indians (NRIs) from Chennai whom he knew personally, police say.

Investigators questioned Nagaraj and his two sons — Gandhi and Shastri — for more than five hours on Sunday to find out the source of Rs 14.8 crore in scrapped notes seized from his house in Srirampuram in a police raid on April 14. He spoke about six NRIs from Chennai but said the plan didn’t work.

Nagaraj, who is a former corporator, claimed that he didn’t solicit customers for exchange of demonetised notes, but said politicians had sent some industrialists to his house, seeking his help in legalising the banned currency, police quoted him as saying. Nagaraj said he didn’t guarantee them anything and asked them to take back the notes, but they didn’t pay heed. As a result, the notes accumulated in his house. He had to “behave differently” to deal with such industrialists, he said. According to Nagaraj, the scrapped currency seized from his house belonged to politicians and bureaucrats.

A senior police officer said Nagaraj appeared to have mellowed and offered to reveal all information about money laundering. In return, he asked police not to implicate his sons and jeopardise their future.

Nagaraj said he was anxious when he released the two videos while in hiding and said he had spoken on the spur of the moment. In the videos, he had accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and some IPS officers of money laundering. Police will continue to interrogate him and his two sons.