Hyderabad: In a real-life remake of 'Farzi' crime-thriller web series, police arrested two persons, including a woman for allegedly printing and circulating fake currency notes and recovered Rs 500 denomination currency notes worth Rs 27 lakhs from them in Hyderabad. Police also seized laptops, printers, laminators, and colour bottles, along with the fake notes. The accused circulated the fake notes in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi and other areas.
Acting on a tip-off, the South Zone Task Force and the Chandrayanagutta police arrested Hasan bin Hamood (31), an auto-driver from Falaknuma, and Rameshwari (24) from Chandrayangutta, in the Old City of Hyderabad on Monday. Disclosing the case details to the media, DCP P Shabarish and Inspectors S Raghavendra and KN Prasadvarma of the Task Force, said that the main suspect in this case is Kasturi Ramesh Babu (35), who is a car mechanic and elder brother of the accused Rameshwari.
Read also: Police nabs man for printing fake currency at home in Surat
Police said Ramesh and Rameshwari had come to the city from Maharashtra in search of employment. Initially, Ramesh set up a mechanic shed in Bandlaguda, but had to shut down during the Covid pandemic. After this, he started working as a driver and married a local girl. They went into printing fake currency notes to earn some quick bucks. They bought scanning machines and printers at a low cost and studied note-making from YouTube videos. After which, they rented a double-bedroom flat in Bandlaguda and started printing notes of Rs 100, 200 and 500 denominations.
It may be recalled that the Gopalapuram police arrested Ramesh when the case came to light in September 2022. Rameshwari went into hiding and got anticipatory bail. In jail, Ramesh met the accused, Hasan, who was accused of murder and planned to exchange fake notes. After being released from jail, Ramesh shifted his residence to Tandoor and started printing fake notes of Rs 500 denomination with the help of modern printers and chemicals. Fake notes were printed in large numbers with RBI seal and colour. At night, these fake notes were easily exchanged with agents of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi and other areas.
In January, the Gujarat police arrested Ramesh for circulating fake currency. Alarmed by her brother's arrest, Rameshwari contacted Hasan, whom her brother had met in jail. Hasan helped in shifting Rameshwari to Chandrayanagutta, along with the fake notes and printing equipment. Then, they again started printing and circulating fake notes. Police said Hasan has five cases against him in Bhavaninagar and Bahadur police stations.
