A midnight operation threw up an as-yet-unresolved challenge for Belagavi police and officials on election duty on Wednesday. They discovered a large hoard of fake notes during the raid of an uninhabited house in Visveswaraya Nagar here. Belagavi Police Commissioner D.C. Rajappa said that he suspected the fake notes were meant for distribution among voters in the forthcoming elections.
Of the haul, 24 bundles of fake notes looked like colour photocopies of ₹2,000 notes. Another 292 bundles looked like ₹2,000 notes, but had ₹0 as the denomination, with 'Children Bank' as the issuer in place of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Many bundles similar to ₹500 notes also had zero denomination. Had it been genuine, the value of the cache would have been ₹7 crore. The police arrested Ajit Kumar Channappa Nidoni of Vijayapura, now living in Belagavi, who claimed they were used for shooting a film in Gokak. Nidoni has been accused of circulating fake currency in the past.
Following some clues, the police arrested Ajit Kumar Channappa Nidoni of Vijayapura, who now lives in Belagavi. He has been accused of circulating fake currency in the past, but claims the seized counterfeits are being used for shooting a film in Gokak.
But Mr. Rajappa said, “It’s difficult to believe him. Printing currency notes is a clear offence and keeping them in an unused government quarter raises suspicions. The investigation will reveal the truth.’’
A poll duty officer, part of the team that raided the house, said, “In some constituencies, such notes have been distributed among voters [willing to sell their votes] on the eve of polling in the past, by inserting them into bundles of real notes. Voters realise they have been conned only after casting their votes. Of course, there is nothing they can do about it.” A case has been registered in the APMC police station against the accused and his unknown associates. of violating election rules under section 123 of the Representation of People’s Act and section 489 of Indian Pecan code relating to possession and circulation of counterfeit currency
