Fake new notes worth Rs 26 lakh seized in Gujarat
Ahmedabad, Dec 27, 2016, DHNS:
Two men smuggling counterfeit new currency in a car stereo were arrested on Monday. The face value of the currency is Rs 26.1 lakh, Gujarat police said. The fake notes were in denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000.
The city crime branch intercepted a car in Rajkot, about 215 km from here, and found the stash. They arrested both men in the car. “The notes were kept inside the speaker boxes of their car,” Anupam Singh Gehlot, Commissioner of Police, Rajkot, told reporters.
Printing expert
Hriday M Jalani, a former printer now in the CCTV business, and Laxman Chauhan, a resident of Kutch and a garment trader, were delivering the notes to someone in Rajkot, and were to get 10% in commission, Gehlot said.
Jalani is an expert printer and knows how to precision-cut notes to make them look authentic, according to the police. Gehlot said the police had also recovered a high-quality printing machine from the two men.
Modus operandi
Jignesh Shah, who the police described as a ‘land broker,’ is suspected to be the kingpin of the racket. He would find customers to exchange old currency, and then order printing of new notes, police said.
The gang would provide new counterfeit notes at 50% of the value of old notes. They would have sold Rs 26 lakh in fake currency for Rs 13 lakh in original old notes, Gehlot said.
Shah, police suspect, has been running the racket since high-denomination notes were banned on November 8.
“The key idea was to slip in five or six fake notes in a bundle of 100 original notes and put them into circulation gradually.... They had even prepared tags and a seal of State Bank of India to pass off their notes as genuine,” Gehlot said.
The police have so far seized about Rs 2 crore in old notes and Rs 70 lakh in new notes from Rajkot alone.
Where is the kingpin?
Police are looking for Jignesh Shah, who they describe as a ‘land broker.’ They suspect he is the kingpin of the counterfeit racket. Shah would find customers desperate to exchange old currency, and then get new notes printed, the police said. The ring offered new counterfeit notes at half the value of demonetised notes.
The city crime branch intercepted a car in Rajkot, about 215 km from here, and found the stash. They arrested both men in the car. “The notes were kept inside the speaker boxes of their car,” Anupam Singh Gehlot, Commissioner of Police, Rajkot, told reporters.
Printing expert
Hriday M Jalani, a former printer now in the CCTV business, and Laxman Chauhan, a resident of Kutch and a garment trader, were delivering the notes to someone in Rajkot, and were to get 10% in commission, Gehlot said.
Jalani is an expert printer and knows how to precision-cut notes to make them look authentic, according to the police. Gehlot said the police had also recovered a high-quality printing machine from the two men.
Modus operandi
Jignesh Shah, who the police described as a ‘land broker,’ is suspected to be the kingpin of the racket. He would find customers to exchange old currency, and then order printing of new notes, police said.
The gang would provide new counterfeit notes at 50% of the value of old notes. They would have sold Rs 26 lakh in fake currency for Rs 13 lakh in original old notes, Gehlot said.
Shah, police suspect, has been running the racket since high-denomination notes were banned on November 8.
“The key idea was to slip in five or six fake notes in a bundle of 100 original notes and put them into circulation gradually.... They had even prepared tags and a seal of State Bank of India to pass off their notes as genuine,” Gehlot said.
The police have so far seized about Rs 2 crore in old notes and Rs 70 lakh in new notes from Rajkot alone.
Where is the kingpin?
Police are looking for Jignesh Shah, who they describe as a ‘land broker.’ They suspect he is the kingpin of the counterfeit racket. Shah would find customers desperate to exchange old currency, and then get new notes printed, the police said. The ring offered new counterfeit notes at half the value of demonetised notes.
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