Hyderabad, Nov 3 (IANS) Police have busted a fake currency racket with the arrest of four persons and seizure of Rs. 6.78 crore in counterfeit currency on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Future City police seized fake Rs. 500 notes worth a whopping Rs 6.78 crore, printers, a laptop and other material.
Personnel from Abdullapurmet Police Station and Shadnagar Special Operations Team (SOT) intercepted a car near Ramoji Film City on NH-65 on November 1 and seized ₹8 lakh in counterfeit notes.
Four accused, identified as M Karunakar, Ch Manikya Reddy, Ch Ratnakar Reddy and K Ajay Kumar, were arrested.
Future City Commissioner Tarun Joshi said during interrogation, the accused revealed that they were running a fake currency printing unit from a rented house in Kuntloor.
A subsequent raid led to the seizure of printers, a laptop, currency-cutting machines and bundles of counterfeit notes.
The investigation revealed that the gang was also resorting to extortion.
The accused allegedly used fake police identity cards, walkie-talkies and a dummy pistol to intimidate potential buyers.
After luring prospective buyers with the promise of cheap currency, the accused were posing as police officers to rob them of their genuine cash.
The accused allegedly extorted Rs.2 lakh and Rs.3 lakh from two prospective customers on separate occasions and shared the money among themselves.
According to police, Karunakar learnt how to scan genuine Rs.500 notes, edit their image using Photoshop and print counterfeit versions by watching YouTube videos and other content on social media.
The accused used images of original currency notes and printing equipment to produce fake notes in large numbers. They were offering counterfeit currency to prospective customers, promising three or four times the value of their genuine money in fake notes.
Explaining the modus operandi of the gang, police said that when interested customers came with genuine cash, other members, posing as police personnel, would arrive in vehicles with fake number plates.
With fake identity cards, walkie-talkies and imitation pistols, they would threaten the customers with legal action and make them flee after taking away their genuine cash.
Acting on a tip-off that four persons were transporting counterfeit currency to Vijayawada in a car, police intercepted the vehicle near Ramoji Film City on November 1, arrested four occupants and seized the counterfeit currency.
Police produced them before a court, which sent them to judicial custody.
Three other accused, identified as Jelli Venkatesh, Kunja Balaraju and Kampasati Srinivas, are absconding. Further investigation was to identify others involved.
–IANS
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