2 from Palghar held in fake currency racket

The Palghar police on Sunday arrested two persons for allegedly running a fake currency racket. The police raided a room in Boisar from where the accused used to

The Palghar police on Sunday arrested two persons for allegedly running a fake currency racket. The police raided a room in Boisar from where the accused used to operate, and seized printers and fake notes of various denominations, amounting to ₹45,000.

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“One of the accused, Manoj Gautam, would print the fake notes and then pass them on to the other accused Sanjay Gupta, who would use the fake currency to make small purchases in the market,” said senior inspector Dashrat Patil of Palghar police station.

On Sunday, Gupta paid a vegetable vendor, Laxmi Shirsat, with a fake ₹100 note. “Shirsat suspected foul play and called her son, who said that the note was fake,” said Patil. She then raised an alarm. When Gupta tried to escape, other vegetable vendors accosted him and called the police. According to Shirsat, the accused was seen roaming the market since the past fortnight, trying to pass off the fake notes to vendors.

Palghar police arrested Gupta and booked him under section 489A (counterfeiting currency-notes or bank-notes) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). “During interrogation, he divulged the name of Gautam and we arrested him as well. Both are now in police custody,” said Patil. “An inter-state gang of counterfeiters is involved in the racket.”