Kanpur, Jan 30 (IANS): Lawyers smeared with black ink the face of a builder accused of stocking old currency notes totalling over Rs 96 crore when he was produced in a court here, police said.

Bar Association General Secretary Bhanu Pratap Singh tried to pacify the irate lawyers but they refused to retreat and also thrashed the accomplices of the builder, Anand Khatri. They called the builder a "traitor" for stocking currency demonetized in 2016.

Police had requested policy custody for the 10 persons accused of hoarding the old currency. When they were brought before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, some lawyers approached them and smeared Khatri's face.

When the other accused tried to react, the lawyers thrashed them. It was only after Bhanu Pratap Singh intervened that the lawyers retreated and the police whisked away the accused.

Police had demanded police custody for the accused claiming that the phones confiscated from them were locked and the police needed their custody to unlock them for further investigation.

Police told the magistrate the network of the accused was spread in some foreign countries.

The court granted two-hour police custody but insisted on the presence of a lawyer during interrogation and medical examination before and later.

After the two-hour remand, all the accused were sent back to prison.

Along with the National Investigation Agency, the Uttar Pradesh Police seized more than Rs 96 crore from Kanpur on January 16.