Omani detained in India for possessing fake notes 

(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) An Omani national is being questioned by police in the southern Indian state of Kerala for allegedly using counterfeit currency at the hotel he was staying in, according to a political activist involved in resolving the issue.

The man (name withheld), who is said to be a close relative of a Majlis A'Shura member, is believed to have been unaware that the notes he had bought from a currency exchange firm in Khabourah last week were counterfeit. Indian media carried reports that the man and his wife, who were staying in Hotel Matha Residency in Kochi, possessed fake notes of R25,000 (RO180 approx).

A case was registered against the couple at the local police station on Friday, the media reports added. ''Efforts are on to resolve the situation,'' Siddique Hassan, a Muscat-based businessman and president of the Oman branch of Overseas Indian Cultural Congress (OICC), a wing of the ruling Congress party in Kerala, said.

According to Hassan, hotel employees informed the police on finding about the counterfeit notes while depositing the day's collection in a bank. Hassan said the couple, however, has not been arrested, but are under detention by a police guard at the hotel itself, adding that officials from Oman's Embassy in India have stepped in to resolve the issue.

A three-member group from Oman, including the Shura member, has arrived in Kochi with CCTV footage of the man exchanging Omani rials for Indian rupees as proof to establish his innocence. A senior official from the Indian Embassy in Muscat said that they were aware of the incident.