Real estate agent from Pune financed fake currency racket busted in Chandrapur: Cops

Rs 33.5 lakh from the suspects,mostly in the denominations of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500.

“So far,there is no evidence to believe the involvement of Naxal outfits in this racket,” said the investigation officer.

The breakthrough came on April 4 when a joint team of Chandrapur and Gadchiroli police raided Sushila Hotel in Chandrapur. The team arrested four persons with FICN of Rs 32 lakh and genuine currency notes of Rs 1.28 lakh.

The four were Pramod Dattatraya Mohakar (48) of Karve Nagar (Pune),Prakash Changdev Vadiske (35) of Ahmednagar,Abhijit Mhaiskar (24) of Akola and Nagesh Prabhakar Ahire (32) of Chandrapur city. An offence was registered at the Ramnagar police station in Chandrapur under various Sections,including 489 and 120 (b) of the Indian Penal Code.

On April 11,the police said,they raided the printing unit set up by the suspects in Nashik and arrested two more persons — the key member of the racket Baba alias Prakash Gulab Jadhav of Ahmednagar and his aide Rajesh Dandekar of Akola. FICN of Rs 1.5 lakh,a laptop,printer,scanner,A-4 size papers,luminous pens and other items used for printing the counterfeit notes were recovered from their possession.

Subsequent action led to the arrest of five more persons — Tridev Mujumdar and Bhiguram Ramji Sangre of Gadchiroli,Ganesh Gawde of Ahmednagar,Vishwanath Palande of Titwala,Thane and Sachin Gangadhar Kotapalliwar of Chandrapur,a local criminal who was earlier booked in crimes like murder.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Raju Nivrutti Bhujbal,the Investigating Officer,said suspect Mohakar from Pune was the “kingpin” and “financier” of the racket. Other key conspirators named by the police are Baba Jadhav,a history-sheeter with two cases of fake currency registered against him at Rahuri and Ulhasnagar,and Vadiske.

“Mohakar is into construction and real estate business. He provided money to operate the racket. Being a technical expert,Jadhav helped in setting up the machinery for printing FICN in Nashik,” said Bhujbal.

“The trio later roped in other suspects,including the local operatives from Chandrapur and Gadchiroli. These local operatives had accepted consignments of fake currency from the key operatives and were planning to circulate it in the tribal and Naxal-affected areas of Chandrapur and Gadchiroli. So far,we have not found involvement of any Naxal outfits in this racket. A probe is on,” he added.

Police said the suspects had been operating the racket for a few months. They held meetings in Pune,Lonavala,Nashik and Ahmednagar. “Though the paper used for FICN was of good quality,the printing quality was poor. The FICN we seized has 70 per cent similarity with original currency notes. Most of the counterfeit notes have same numbers,” said Bhujbal.

Modus operandi

Explaining the modus operandi, Investigation Officer Raju Nivrutti Bhujbal said: “The suspects had scanned a few original currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denominations. They took colour printouts of these notes on good quality A-4 papers,which were purchased from Mumbai. After printing,they would cut the paper in the size of proper currency notes. Using luminous pens,they highlighted the security thread on the fake notes. These fake currency notes were then handed over to the local operatives for circulation in tribal and rural areas.”

Eyeing rural areas?

Investigators suspect the racketeers may be looking at the Naxal-affected rural region in Chandrapur and Gadchiroli for circulation of locally printed FICN,which are of comparatively poorer quality than those printed by international rings,as there is less awareness and knowledge among tribal and rural people in these areas about identifying currency notes. There have been a few similar cases of fake currency in this area in the past. In July 2012,two persons from Andhra Pradesh and one from Aheri in Gadchiroli were arrested for setting up a similar printing unit on Rajwada Road in Aheri,with a computer,chemicals,printer and cutter being recovered from them. In May 2007,the Nagpur (Rural) police had arrested a youth from Umred,Gadchiroli Road,with 66 counterfeit notes of Rs 100 denomination. The police later unearthed a printing unit at Deepak Studio in Gondia.