KOZHIKODE: The police on Thursday arrested three more youths for their alleged involvement in fake currency distribution in various parts of Kerala and Karnataka. Aswin Venugopal, 26, Sanal Sahadevan, 31, and Mohammed Aslam, 24, were arrested by an investigation squad led by Deputy Superintendent of Police P.C. Sajeevan.
The youths, all hailing from Kozhikode district, reportedly joined the distribution network to earn money to enter the film field. Mr. Sajeevan said the youths were lured by three persons who were arrested on Wednesday. Puthen Veettil Gold Joseph, his nephew Vipin, and Makkottil Shihab got the youngsters in the network by offering counterfeit currency distribution as a part-time job, he told The Hindu .
The police also recovered counterfeit currency notes which were given to the youths for local distribution. Investigators confirmed that the three had no big involvement in the incident, as their ignorance was exploited by the elders’ gang. They also handed over fake currency bundles to the police.
Meanwhile, search will be intensified to trace the key person behind the inter-State network which has its base in Bengaluru.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that the gang had already distributed counterfeit currency notes to the tune of ₹1 crore in various parts of Kerala and Karnataka. The accused, who were arrested with fake notes to the tune of ₹32 lakh and other printing accessories, confessed to the police that they had already distributed a major portion of the fake notes in Kozhikode. The currency notes were all in the denominations of newly issued ₹2.000 and ₹500.
