A man was caught with the equivalent of over forty-thousand US dollars in cash, on a train in Jabalpur, India on Thursday 15 July.

Illegal trading has emerged as a formidable challenge during the pandemic in central India's Madhya Pradesh.

Visuals featured railway cops recovering several bundles of cash, covered in plastic wrapping, which they seized.

Acting on a tip-off, the railway cops inspected the Howrah to Mumbai train and got suspicious of a Ghamapur passenger named Karthik Gupta, traveling from Jabalpur with Rs. 30 lakh (40,210 US dollars).

He was taken off the train and questioned but he could not give a clear answer about the money.

The police suspect this to be a case of hawala, a traditional system of transferring money whereby the money is paid to an agent who then instructs an associate in another area to pay the final recipient.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) later handed over the matter to the Income Tax and Goods and Service Tax (GST) Department for further investigation.

Illegal trading among the locals has emerged as one of the most formidable challenges during the pandemic in central India's Madhya Pradesh on July 15. The incident took place in Jabalpur.

Visuals feature the railway cops recovering several bundles of cash ingeniously wrapped with an adhesive sheet to transfer it to its owner. However, the officials seize all the money and investigate the matter after apprehending the goon.

Acting on a tip-off, the railway cops inspected the Howrah–Mumbai Mail and got suspicious of a Ghamapur passenger named Karthik Gupta, traveling from Jabalpur with Rs. 30 lakh (USD 40,210). He was taken off the train and questioned, but he could not give a clear answer about the money. The police suspected this to be a case of hawala, a traditional system of transferring money whereby the money is paid to an agent who then instructs an associate in the area to pay the final recipient. The Government Railway Police (GRP) later handed over the matter to the Income Tax and Goods and Service Tax (GST) Department for further investigation.