Over the course of two-day raids, Patna police have busted a major nationwide racket of fake stamp papers worth Rs. 100 crore in the city alone. The network of operators and circulation of these counterfeit papers is spread over Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa and Delhi, posing a serious challenge to the country’s economy, Manu Maharaj, senior superintendent of police, Patna, said on Wednesday.
Police have arrested Ranjit Kumar, the alleged kingpin in the multi-crore racket, along with two other operators. Based on Ranjit’s statement police conducted further raids and stumbled upon a factory, where they found a large cache of fake stamp papers, postal stamps, national savings certificates worth Rs. 100 crore, Mr. Maharaj said.
Earlier, in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, police raided an apartment where fake non-judicial stamps and court stamps were recovered. The consignment was meant to be transported to other States.
Upon interrogation of arrested persons, police learnt that fake currency notes worth lakhs of rupees were already in circulation in the market. The accused had planned to spread fake notes in the market, especially during Durga puja and Dussehra.
The “quality” of the recovered stamp papers is so good that no one can detect it is fake, police said.
