Police arrested three people in the city for using fake Rs 500 notes, which they procured from a Bihar-based man at a 75% discount.
The suspects — Saravana, 25, from Tamil Nadu; and Nitin, 24, and Thevan, 25, from Kerala, were caught by the Cottonpet police on June 28 while they were trying to sell the fake notes at Majestic's skywalk.
During interrogation, the suspects confessed that Saravana contacted the man from Patna who sells fake currency. Saravana purchased counterfeit notes worth Rs 1 lakh by transferring Rs 25,000 to the seller, and distributed it among the three suspects. They then used the fake notes at crowded places like the Majestic bus stand, KR Market, and KSR Bengaluru railway station.
Police confiscated 1,307 counterfeit Rs 500 notes with a total face value of Rs 6.53 lakh. The suspects revealed that they had bought up to Rs 10 lakh in fake currency from the Bihar-based man and conducted transactions worth around Rs 4 lakh in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. They also admitted to circulating fake currency through two Instagram accounts — 'fake_currency_tamilnadu' and 'Motohaker.93.'
A case has been registered against them under IPC Section 489C (attempts to circulate counterfeit currency with the knowledge that it is fake). Police have launched a manhunt for the Bihar-based counterfeit currency seller.