Bengaluru: The Halasuru Gate Police have arrested at least five persons for allegedly printing fake 2,000-rupee notes and attempting to exchange them at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), officials said.
The arrested accused are AK Afzal Hussain (29) of Sirigere in Ballari district, Praseeth (47) of Pondicherry, Kerala-based Mohammad Afnas (34), Nooruddin Alias Anwar (34) and Priyesh (34), they said.
Police have recovered fake currency notes worth Rs 52.40 lakh and two mobile phones from them.
On September 9, Afzal tried to exchange Rs 24.68 lakhs of fake 2,000-rupee notes for 500-rupee notes at the RBI’s Bengaluru branch located on Nripatunga Road. However, the officials drew suspicion and when they checked the authenticity of the notes, it came to light that they were fake notes.
The Assistant General Manager of RBI Bank, Bhim Chaudhary, immediately brought it to the police’s notice and filed a complaint after which the accused was arrested.
Based on the information given by Afzal, four more accused were arrested in Kerala, where fake notes of 2,000-rupee worth Rs 27.72 lakh have been seized, officials said.
According to police, Afzal has been running a granite business in Ballari and another accused Nooruddin owed him Rs 25 lakh.
“When Afzal asked for money, Nooruddin convinced him to exchange fake notes for 500-rupee notes at the bank as he doesn't have them available,” said an officer.
He said that another accused Priyesh has been running a printing press for the last 20 years at Cherkala of Kerala. He brought special paper and note-making materials from Calicut and printed 2,000-rupee notes in his own printing press and gave them to accused Nooruddin for circulation. Investigation revealed that Nooruddin was circulating these fake notes along with other accused, police informed.
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