Fake notes racket operators put kids on 'circulation' job

Police seize fake currency adding up to Rs 3.7 lakh, discover boys brought to city from West Bengal with promise of jobs made to pass off counterfeit Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes; big fish absconding

The people who run counterfeit currency rackets now seem to be making use of jobless minor boys from West Bengal to circulate fake notes in the market even as they continue to operate from behind the curtains.
A recent racket busted in the city yielded notes adding up to Rs 3.7 lakh.


Cash catch: The fake notes seized by the police. Pic/Sagar Gholap

An alert cloth merchant in Budhwar Peth alerted a police patrolling party about the counterfeit notes handed over to him by two minor boys. The police caught the two minors, who confessed all and said five accomplices of theirs were staying in Koregaon Bhima.

Three arrested
The Faraskhana police then arrested three people and detained five minors, all from Malda district in West Bengal. The police recovered counterfeit notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denominations that added up to Rs 3.7 lakh on Wednesday morning.

The racket kingpins, who allegedly btought the eight to the city some eight days ago, are absconding. "These eight were lured into this with the promise of jobs as hawkers in Pune," said a police officer. Sources in the police said the racket kingpins first conducted a dry run by giving each of them counterfeit notes worth Rs 3,000 to spend. Police suspected this was done as the two alleged masterminds wanted to check if the fake notes distributed in this manner would go unnoticed.

The three arrested suspects were identified as Saddam Faizuddin Shaikh (20), Tosir Mafijuddin Shaikh (22) and Saddam Istafali Shaikh (19). The five minors were said to be aged between 14 and 16 years. Senior Police Inspector Venkat Gangalwad from the Faraskhana police station said, "We have held three of them from the premises of a hotel in Shukrawar Peth.

They were carrying a few notes in their pockets. Primary inquiry revealed that the group stayed at a rented room in Koregaon Bhima. A total sum of Rs 3.7 lakh in the notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 was recovered from them. The examination of the notes revealed that they were fake."u00a0