The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested two people allegedly involved in printing and circulating fake currency notes in the city. The accused are allegedly part of a gang that was earlier busted in Kerala, and those arrested at the time included a Malayalam television actor and her family members.
The two accused have been identified as Vishnu Vijayan (28) and Don Warki (26). Officers said they were caught on the basis of a tip-off received by police constable Amit Mahangade with the Crime Branch Unit IX.
“The tip-off was verified under the supervision of senior police inspector Mahesh Desai, after which teams led by police inspectors Asha Korke and Sanjeev Gawde laid a trap at Veera Desai Road in Andheri on Thursday. The two were intercepted in a white Santro and were found to be carrying counterfeit ₹500 notes with a face value of ₹2.94 lakh,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection I) Akbar Pathan said.
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The accused were arrested and during interrogation, revealed they were printing the notes in a house they had recently rented in Navi Mumbai.
Acting on the information, Unit IX teams raided the house in Ulwe and seized equipment including plates, brass strips, cutters and foils of paper, which were being used for printing the notes, along with computers, tablets and printers.
“The two work for Leo George, the mastermind who was arrested in Kerala in 2018 for running a similar racket there. Malayalam actor Surya Sashikumar, along with her mother and sister, were also arrested for the offence at the time. We suspect that this is a separate module of a large network run by George, who is wanted in our case,” a Crime Branch officer said.
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The police are finding out how long the accused have been active and how much fake currency they have printed and circulated during this time. Prima facie, the racket seems to have been running purely for profit and does not seem to have terror links. The accused have been charged for counterfeiting of currency under the Indian Penal Code, and efforts are under way to trace and arrest other members involved in the racket, officers said.