The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has busted a fake currency racket based in Tamil Nadu, where counterfeit notes were printed in Tiruppur and sent to Mumbai with couriers for circulation in the city’s markets.
According to Crime Branch officials, the lid was blown off the racket when the Crime Branch Unit IV picked up Bhaskar Nadar (53) near a Bank of Baroda branch at Sion Circle on March 3 based on a tip-off. He was found to be in possession of 151 counterfeit currency notes of different denominations, with a face value of ₹1.28 lakh.
He was arrested and booked for possession of counterfeit currency notes under the Indian Penal Code. “During his interrogation, Mr. Nadar told us that he had been arrested in an attempt to robbery case in 2011 and had come to Mumbai from his native Tiruppur for a court appearance. Before he left, he was approached by Sarvanan Vaniyar, who gave him the counterfeit notes and told him to hand them over to a receiver in Mumbai,” a Crime Branch officer said.
Raid in Tiruppur
Acting on the information, the Unit IV sent a team to Tiruppur, which, working with the local police, conducted a raid at Mr. Vaniyar’s residence on Monday.
“We found a set-up in Mr. Vaniyar’s house, where genuine currency notes were being scanned and then printed on a paper similar to the one used in currency printing. The accused would then paste green-coloured plastic strips on the notes to make them look like security strips,” the officer said.
The Unit IV team seized a total of 1,473 notes of ₹500 denomination and 85 notes of ₹200 denomination, with a face value of ₹7.55 lakh, from Mr. Vaniyar’s residence and arrested him.
The police are now working on apprehending the person who was to pick up the consignment from Mr. Nadar. The team is also trying to find out how long the racket has been active and pumping fake currency notes into the city’s markets.
Last week, the Crime Branch Unit IX had arrested two people who were allegedly printing counterfeit currency notes using a sophisticated set-up in Ulwe in Navi Mumbai. The racket was found to have links in Kerala. The Unit IV is probing to confirm whether the two rackets are connected.
