<p>The counterfeiters are now faking curfew passes, arguably the most precious commodity in the times of the COVID-19 lockdown. </p>.<p>Police have arrested a gang of five that was allegedly photocopying valid passes issued for essential and emergency services. </p>.<p>The gang was busted by B Dinesh Kumar Shetty, an assistant sub-inspector at the KG Halli police station. Shetty was checking vehicles near the Nagalingeshwara temple in Nagavara, Northeast Bengaluru. Around 1.30 pm on April 9, he asked the driver of a Maruti Omni (KA 04/Z 1165) to pull over. </p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-news-live-updates-lockdown-in-focus-as-indias-tally-goes-past-5800-global-toll-crosses-85000-817763.html?_ga=2.86637979.2073454908.1586524363-2033073023.1584952646" target="_blank">For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here</a></strong></p>.<p>The driver showed a curfew pass but Shetty found something amiss in it.</p>.<p>A closer examination revealed that the pass was actually a colour photocopy. The policeman then asked the driver to produce the original pass. The driver replied that it was an original pass that he had obtained from a man named Nadeem Pasha for Rs 500. </p>.<p>Fortunately for the driver, Pasha happened to be passing by, riding pillion on a friend’s motorcycle. The driver pointed in his direction. Shetty and his colleagues then detained Pasha. </p>.<p>A police investigation found that Pasha and four of his friends had sold many colour photocopies of a valid pass he had obtained from the office of the deputy commissioner of police (west). </p>.<p>The other arrested suspects are Mohammed Abdul Rehman, 25, Mohammed Junaid Qureshi, 21, Mohammed Rakeeb, 20 and Irshad Pasha, 46, all are residents of Gandhinagar, KG Halli. </p>.<p>A police officer warned the public against stepping out with fake passes. </p>
<p>The counterfeiters are now faking curfew passes, arguably the most precious commodity in the times of the COVID-19 lockdown. </p>.<p>Police have arrested a gang of five that was allegedly photocopying valid passes issued for essential and emergency services. </p>.<p>The gang was busted by B Dinesh Kumar Shetty, an assistant sub-inspector at the KG Halli police station. Shetty was checking vehicles near the Nagalingeshwara temple in Nagavara, Northeast Bengaluru. Around 1.30 pm on April 9, he asked the driver of a Maruti Omni (KA 04/Z 1165) to pull over. </p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-news-live-updates-lockdown-in-focus-as-indias-tally-goes-past-5800-global-toll-crosses-85000-817763.html?_ga=2.86637979.2073454908.1586524363-2033073023.1584952646" target="_blank">For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here</a></strong></p>.<p>The driver showed a curfew pass but Shetty found something amiss in it.</p>.<p>A closer examination revealed that the pass was actually a colour photocopy. The policeman then asked the driver to produce the original pass. The driver replied that it was an original pass that he had obtained from a man named Nadeem Pasha for Rs 500. </p>.<p>Fortunately for the driver, Pasha happened to be passing by, riding pillion on a friend’s motorcycle. The driver pointed in his direction. Shetty and his colleagues then detained Pasha. </p>.<p>A police investigation found that Pasha and four of his friends had sold many colour photocopies of a valid pass he had obtained from the office of the deputy commissioner of police (west). </p>.<p>The other arrested suspects are Mohammed Abdul Rehman, 25, Mohammed Junaid Qureshi, 21, Mohammed Rakeeb, 20 and Irshad Pasha, 46, all are residents of Gandhinagar, KG Halli. </p>.<p>A police officer warned the public against stepping out with fake passes. </p>