IRITTY: Hawala money worth Rs 1 crore 12 lakh was seized from five Tamil Nadu natives who were passengers of a tourist bus from Karnataka. Five persons named Vishnu, Muthu, Palani, Senthil Muthu and Senthil Kumaran were taken into custody by the excise team. Money was kept tied to the body and kept in bags.

They were caught during a vehicle inspection at the Koottupuzha excise check post at 4 am yesterday. The accused were traveling in VK Travels bus which came from Bengaluru to Kozhikode. The accused have stated that they brought the money to Malappuram. The money was handed over to the police as part of further investigation.