Shravasti (UP), Nov 6 (PTI) Three persons were arrested for allegedly printing counterfeit Indian currency in Shravasti district of Uttar Pradesh, with police seizing 804 fake notes having a face value of Rs 1.74 lakh, an official said on Friday.
A joint team of the UP Special Task Force (STF) and local police busted the inter-district counterfeit currency racket following a raid at Giriraj Rice Mill in Bhithiya Chichri on Malhipur Road on Thursday, Superintendent of Police (SP) Rahul Bhati told reporters.
The arrested accused have been identified as Girija Shankar Jaiswal, a resident of Bahraich, and Narendra Kumar Chaurasia and Vrijendra Goswami, both from Shravasti, he said.
The seized counterfeit notes included 537 notes of Rs 100, 44 notes of Rs 200 and 223 notes of Rs 500, the SP said.
The police also recovered a colour printer, four filled ink refills, printed sheets of counterfeit notes, bond paper, cutter blades, scissors, a steel scale, paper scraps, three mobile phones and Rs 5,500 in cash.
Bhati said the police also seized materials sufficient to print fake currency worth lakhs of rupees.
The gang’s alleged key member, Goswami, had learnt the process of printing counterfeit currency in Mumbai and through YouTube videos. He was responsible for printing the notes, while the other two accused handled cutting, bundling and packaging, the SP said.
The accused had planned to circulate the fake currency in markets during the Diwali festival, he added.
According to the police, the accused were also looking for customers, offering counterfeit notes worth Rs 3 lakh in exchange for genuine currency worth Rs 1 lakh. The three had planned to share the profits equally.
A case has been registered at Sonwa police station under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and the accused have been produced before a court, Bhati said. PTI COR CDN KSS
KSS
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.