The Surathakal police have arrested two persons from West Bengal for the alleged possession and circulation of counterfeit currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 denomination. Mangalore Police Commissioner R. Hitendra gave the names of the accused as Sushant Mandal (20) and Sharat Mandal (19) from Malda district in West Bengal. Mr. Hitendra said the two had come to Mangalore on January 15 with counterfeit currency with face value of nearly Rs. 2 lakh.
How he was bottled
On Sunday, Sushant went with a Rs. 500 currency note to a grocery shop and purchased a bottle of soft drinks. The shop keeper, who received the currency note, suspected the same to be counterfeit after touching the security thread. The shop owner called the police, who took Sushant into custody and questioned him. Sushant led the police to a room in Surathkal where he was staying with the other accused Sharat. The police recovered counterfeit currency with face value of Rs. 92,000. The police have also recovered Rs. 40,420 in denominations of Rs. 500, Rs. 100, Rs. 50 and Rs. 20. Mr. Hitendra told reporters that the police have so far found that the two accused had brought the counterfeit notes from West Bengal.
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Investigations are on to find the source of counterfeit notes. “The accused have come to the city with the purpose of distributing counterfeit notes,” he said. Counterfeit notes with face value of around Rs. 1 lakh has been circulated in the market by the accused, he said.
This was not the first time the city police have arrested persons from West Bengal for alleged possession and distribution of counterfeit notes. On July 28, 2012, the Barke police arrested a person from West Bengal and also booked two minors for alleged possession and circulation of 400 counterfeit notes.
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Mr.Hitendra has asked people to inform police about counterfeit notes that have been circulated by the two accused in the city.
The police say as many as 77 counterfeit notes with face value of Rs. 500 and 19 notes with face value of Rs. 1,000 have been allegedly circulated by the accused.
The notes of Rs. 1,000 are with serial numbers starting with 5GR and 8GQ. The notes of Rs. 500 are with serial numbers 3DV, 6AR, 1CG, 5KF, 1EQ, 4KM, 5TC, 3TE, 9HR, 2CH, 7DD, 9FC and 2FR.
People in possession of such currency notes have been asked to approach the nearest police station. “People can come forward with complaints of circulation of counterfeit currency notes,” Mr. Hitendra said.