Representative image of a police van
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Bengaluru: Bengaluru police busted a nexus operating to circulate counterfeit currencies and arrested five people, including three people from Kerala.
The racket came to light when the Halasuru Gate police were investigating a case pertaining to the exchange of counterfeit currencies by a granite dealer called Abdul Hussain. On September 9, Hussain went to Bengaluru’s Reserve Bank of India (RBI) office and requested an exchange of Rs 24.8 lakh, which was atRs 2,000 face value.
The Assistant General Manager (AGM) at the bank noticed that the money submitted by Hussain was counterfeit and detained him and later handed him over to the police.
Hussain’s interrogation led the police to a Kannur-based man called Prasidh, who had given Hussain large sums of counterfeit currencies. “Prasidh had bought granite worth Rs 40 lakh from Hussain and gave Rs 24.8 lakh counterfeit currencies, all in Rs 2,000 face value, and asked him to exchange it in RBI,” an investigator in the case told DH.
The police arrested Prasidh from Kannur and learnt about two more agents— Mohammad Afnas and Nooruddin Anwar—from Kannur and Kasargod, respectively. However, further probe revealed that these two were mere foot soldiers, and the kingpin was one Prayas from Kasargod.
Trailing Prayas revealed that he was already arrested by the Mangaluru police’s Central Crime Branch (CCB) in a counterfeit currency case. Digging deeper into the background of Prayas revealed that he had an accomplice called Sharath who runs a printing press in Kerala, where all counterfeit currencies were printed. Sharath is currently absconding.
According to the police, Sharath and Prayas printed currencies without revealing that they were counterfeit and they used to share on WhatsApp groups that they had Rs 2,000 face value currencies and needed help to exchange them.
Afnas and Nooruddin believed the messages and brought customers to Sharath and Prayas, said a police officer who is monitoring the investigations. Investigators are now trailing Sharath to learn more about the printing press.
An FIR has been filed at the Halasuru Gate police station under BNS sections 179 (Using as genuine, forged or counterfeit coin, government stamp, currency notes, or banknotes) and 180 (Possession of forged or counterfeit coin, government stamp, currency notes, or banknotes).