Over Rs 70 crore in cash and more than 170 kg of gold has been seized from passengers at various airports of the country after demonetisation, the Central Industrial Security Force told PTI on Wednesday. The cash was mainly in new banknotes, Director General of the CISF, OP Singh, said. He added that the CISF provided tip-offs about the passengers carrying cash and gold to various agencies who made the arrests.

A special surveillance operation was initiated by the CISF and the intelligence units of the Income Tax department and interceptions have been made at ten major airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, since November 10, reported India Today.

More than Rs 18 crore in cash has been collected at Mumbai airport between November 15 and December 8 and nearly Rs 5 crore has been taken from passengers at Kolkata airport, the report added. At the Chennai airport, on December 8 and 9, Rs 6.05 crore cash in and gold weighing 109 kg was seized, India Today reported.