3 held in Surat with fake currency notes

Shah, the main accused, used to run a now-defunct YouTube news channel from his office, where he was also printing the counterfeit notes.

Following a tip-off that counterfeit notes were being printed in Limbayat, officers from the Crime Branch and the Special Operation Group posed as vegetable sellers and hawkers around Shah’s office to keep a watch.

On Tuesday night, they raided the shop and caught three persons trying to escape. In all, the officers recovered notes of 500 and 200 denomination having face value of Rs 9.36 lakh. Four mikes, press identity cards, colour printers, printing papers and colours were also seized.

SOG Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajdeep Nakum said, “The mastermind of the gang, Feroz Shah, was earlier arrested by the Jharkhand Police from Dhanbad in 2015. Counterfeit notes having a face value of Rs 35,000 were recovered from him. He stayed in jail for two years and then came out on bail. He returned to Surat and started working as a real estate broker, but it did not turn out well.”

“He took a loan of Rs 5 lakh from his friends for medical emergencies… Unable to repay the loan, Shah started printing the fake notes at his office. With help of his two aides, Khan and Kapadiya, he started circulating the notes in grocery stores and paan shops, among others in Limbayat,” he added.

“We are trying to find out whether Feroz had registered the YouTube news channel,” said Nakum.