Mumbai, 26 July (HS): A major racket circulating fake currency notes was
unearthed in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur. Following arrest of one individual, police
could get the names of ten others involved in the racket. Some of them were arrested.
The currency notes printed in Bangladesh were being dropped on the Bangladesh border in packets. These notes were then being transported to
different places in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha and West Bengal.
Police investigating the racket held Akash Ravindra Ringane while
loading Rs 500 denomination’s 35 notes at an ATM in Gadhinglaj, Kolhapur.
Following his arrest, police found a chain of ten people, of which Nitin
Kumbhar, Ashok Kumbhar, Dilip Patin, Santish Kankanwadi, Bharmu Kumbhar, Akshay
Kumbhar, Ashok Toni, Tapas Kumar Pradhan and one other accused were arrested.
Four more accused in this connection are absconding.
The mastermind of the racket is said to be Ashok Kumbhar, who was
earlier jailed for circulating fake currency notes. In jail, he met another
offender connected to the fake currency notes case. After his release from jail, Ashok started the same racket.
Tapas Kumar from Odisha was monitoring the operations in Odisha, West
Bengal, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. For circulating fake notes worth Rs 1 lakh,
the operator used to get Rs 60,000 genuine notes, Rs 40,000 for the supplier, and Rs 20,000 for the distributor.
The ten accused circulated about Rs 35 lakhs in fake currency and carried
out online transactions of Rs 16.88 lakh.
Gadhinlaj police are carrying out further investigation into the racket.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Ajay Vasant Mardikar
