Bhubaneswar, Nov. 20: Income tax officials today interrogated two persons who were detained with demonetised notes worth Rs 27 lakh and new currency notes worth Rs 3 lakh of Rs 2,000 denomination.

The I-T sleuths today interrogated Sumanta Pradhan and Mamta Behera for around six hours. The Saheed Nagar police detained them yesterday when they were carrying the cash in an SUV.

The cops suspected that the money belonged to Laxminarayan Behera who managed to give the police a slip during the raid.

"The duo pleaded ignorance about the cash in the bag. They told us that they did not know Behera personally. We are verifying their claims," said an I-T official.

The police suspected that the trio had already disposed of another Rs 20 lakh in Jharapada before the two were detained. "We had specific inputs of transportation of Rs 50 lakh in the SUV, but when we nabbed them we found only Rs 30 lakh. During interrogation, they told us that they had been to Jharapada for some official work. We are trying to ascertain the identity of the man whom they met at Jharapada," said a police official.

The cops suspected that the money was being brought to the capital city for exchange. "Preliminary investigation revealed that Laxminarayan was employed in a retail chain business at Aska in Ganjam. We suspect that the money was kept in cash to evade income tax," said a police official.

The police later handed over the duo to the I-T department.

"They will inquire about the source of cash. We are trying to ascertain the whereabouts of Laxminarayan," said a police official.

The cops also suspected Sumanta and Mamata of playing the role of facilitator in exchange. "We asked them whether they played the role of middlemen. They have denied their role of facilitator, but we are trying to verify their claims," said the police official.