As many as four persons were arrested in Gandhinagar on Saturday for allegedly possessing raw materials for manufacturing fake currency notes of face value Rs 58 lakh. Police also seized Rs 4.52 crore in cash from them. According to police, Mohammad Safi Vohra and Firoz Vohra — residents of Anand, and Vinayak Nikam and Chirag alias Pintu from Vadodara were arrested by Gandhinagar police Local Crime Branch near ST Bus depot. “We received a tip-off that four members of a gang involved in the circulation of fake currency notes were seen near ST bus depot in their car. A team apprehended the accused and the car was searched when we found bundles of paper with print of Rs 2000 denomination (which would be cut later to resemble the currency) of face value Rs 58 lakh. We also found Rs 4.5 crore genuine cash from the car,” said a senior officer of Gandhinagar Police. According to police, the accused allegedly earned Rs 4.5 crore by sale of counterfeit notes. “The group told us that they are into production and sale of counterfeit currency notes. They also said that a person believed to be their ring leader had told them that old notes withdrawn from the ATM can be made to look new (without creases) using a chemical substance. The earned money by depositing new notes made from chemical process in exchange of old currency notes at 30 per cent margin rate. An accused named Jaanbhai has also emerged in the interrogation and further probe is going on,” said the officer. All accused have been booked under IPC sections 420 for fraud and 406 for criminal breach of trust.
