Guwahati, 11 August (HS): Assam Police have arrested a 21-year-old man in Guwahati and seized 210 suspected Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) with a total face value of ₹1.05 lakh, officials said.

The arrested person has been identified as Harsh Agarwal, a resident of Bharalumukh.

Police launched an operation in the Ambari area on Monday evening after receiving information about the circulation of counterfeit currency. Agarwal was intercepted during the raid and taken into custody.

A subsequent search led to the recovery of 210 suspected counterfeit notes, all in the denomination of ₹500. The seized currency was taken into possession following due legal procedure, police said.

Investigators are now working to establish the origin of the notes and identify others who may be involved in their circulation. Legal action has also been initiated against the accused.

The latest arrest is part of a series of counterfeit currency operations carried out by police in Guwahati in recent weeks. According to police, these drives have led to several arrests and the recovery of suspected fake currency with a combined face value of more than ₹20 lakh.

In a recent case, the Government Railway Police recovered counterfeit notes worth ₹7.37 lakh from Kamakhya Railway Station and arrested two persons. The accused, identified as Dayal Das, 59, and Gulab Shaikh, 50, both from Pakur district of Jharkhand, were apprehended from Platform No. 1 at around 9.30 pm. The operation was supervised by Assistant Sub-Inspector Yadav Chetia.

Dispur Police also reported the seizure of suspected counterfeit currency worth ₹2.56 lakh from the Six Mile area. Two alleged traffickers, Debojit Deori and Ajay Biswakarma, both residents of Deorigaon in Dhemaji district, were arrested in connection with the case.

Earlier, on June 30, Dispur Police had seized suspected fake currency with a face value of Rs 10.90 lakh in the Six Mile-Panjabari area and arrested three persons.

The three accused — Anuj Gupta, Mahesh Shukla and Roshan Gupta — were travelling in a vehicle bearing registration number UP35 BV 8240 when police intercepted them after finding their movements suspicious. Officials said the trio had travelled by road from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

The repeated seizures have prompted investigators to examine possible inter-state links in the circulation of counterfeit currency, with Guwahati emerging as a suspected transit point.

Police said efforts are continuing to trace the source of the fake notes and identify the wider network involved in their distribution.---------

Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash