4 min readJul 6, 2026 08:50 PM IST
First published on: Jul 6, 2026 at 07:28 PM IST
On the afternoon of June 19, a 25-year-old Siddharam, alias Arjun Bidankar, and his twin brother Shiva, caught two local businessmen for allegedly circulating fake Indian currency notes (FICN) near Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune city.
After receiving information from the Bidankar brothers, police nabbed the two suspects and launched a probe into the FICN racket. Police arrested three persons and seized about 315 FICN notes of Rs 500 denomination.
Siddharam had lodged the first information report (FIR) at the Koregaon Park police station on June 20.
Siddharam and Shiva are cinematographers, residing at Mahatma Phule Vasahat, a slum along Tadiwala Road in Pune’s Bundgarden area.
They have been running ABJB Films and Photography studio with their friend Joseph Bhosale at a rented shop in Kumar Pinnacle on Tadiwala Road for the last few years. Their mother runs the Malhar Tea Shop near the exit gate of Ruby Hall Clinic.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Siddharam said that around 3 pm on June 19, two men on a two-wheeler came to the tea shop.
“One of them purchased a cigarette pack for Rs 250 at our tea stall and gave a Rs 500 note to my mother. He took the change and left. My mother gave me the same note and asked me to buy some tea powder, but I felt the note was lighter and the colour shades on it were different from a real Rs 500 note… I told my brother Shiva. He compared it with a real note, and we saw that the paper quality of the two notes were different. We immediately started searching for the two men who gave the fake note,” he said.
Siddharam and Shiva saw that the two suspects were again buying cigarettes from a nearby shop with a fake Rs 500 note. The twins caught the suspects and called the police control room number 112.
Within minutes, a police team reached the spot and took the suspects into custody. They were identified as Omprakash Mahavir Agarwal (32) of Tingre Nagar in Vishrantwadi and Mausam Narendra Mishra (36) of Lohegaon.
They were booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 179 (trafficking or circulation of forged or counterfeit currency notes, 180 (possession of forged or counterfeit currency notes), 318 (4) (cheating), 3(5).
Initially, six FICN were seized from the accused. During the investigation, police arrested one more suspect, Rishikesh Ware (31) of Bhosari.
“Previously, we seized about 130 FICN from accused Mishra. Further, 183 FICN were seized from his aide, Ware. All FICN are of the denomination 500. Attempts are on to find out where the FICN were prepared, what equipment was used for it and how long this counterfeit currency racket is operating,” said senior police inspector Vijaykumar Doke of Koregaon Park police station.
“Accused Agarwal claims to be a businessman, Mishra is known to be a cloth trader, and Ware is a real estate agent,” said Doke.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Sangeeta Shinde Alphonso said the arrested accused were in jail and further investigation was underway to determine if more persons were involved.
From graphic design to catching counterfeiters
Shiva Bidankar said, “My brother and I completed HSC but left studies in the second year of B.Com.”
“We were initially into graphic design. Later, we learnt videography through YouTube videos. As our interest grew, we became cinematographers and started our own studio. We work for several rappers and hip-hop singers. We also do wedding shoots,” said Siddharam.
The twins said their mother could not realise that the suspects gave her a fake currency note at the tea shop.
“Luckily, she gave the fake note to me to get tea powder. I found it suspicious, and then my brother and I nabbed the suspects, believing they may have cheated many people by circulating fake currency. We appreciate the police action and hope the accused are punished as per the law…,” he said.
Siddharam and Shiva Bidankar, the Pune-based twin cinematographers whose quick thinking led to the bust of a fake currency ring. (Express Photo) 
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