Reacting to the claims of the Uttar Pradesh Police that five alleged members of a gang accused of manufacturing counterfeit ₹20 coins, were active in Sonepat’s industrial area, the Sonepat police said that they were examining the claims.
According to Saharanpur SSP Abhinandan Singh the accused were arrested in Saharanpur while allegedly preparing to set up another counterfeit coin manufacturing unit there, police said. The alleged kingpin has been identified as Upkar Luthra alias Abhay Pratap Singh, a resident of Mohali in Punjab and there were around 8 members involved in this gang, police said.
Regarding the claims by the UP police, the accused allegedly told investigators that they had operated in a factory somewhere in Sonepat, the Sonepat police said the accused had been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police in Saharanpur and there was no official information about any raid by them in the Sonepat industrial area. “We came to know about it from the media as there was no official communication from the UP Police to Sonepat police about this raid or arrest of these people. But senior police officers of DCP level were examining the claims”, said a senior police officer of Sonepat police, pleading anonymity.
The arrested accused have been identified as Luthra; Himanshu alias Gullu and Kuldeep, both residents of Saharanpur; Santosh Chaurasia alias Janardan of Madhubani in Bihar; and Anurag Pal alias Lankesh of Sant Ravidas Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. A case has been registered against them at Kotwali Nagar police station in Saharanpur.
{{/usCountry}}The arrested accused have been identified as Luthra; Himanshu alias Gullu and Kuldeep, both residents of Saharanpur; Santosh Chaurasia alias Janardan of Madhubani in Bihar; and Anurag Pal alias Lankesh of Sant Ravidas Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. A case has been registered against them at Kotwali Nagar police station in Saharanpur.
{{/usCountry}}According to Saharanpur police, Luthra had been involved in the illegal activity since 2001 and allegedly operated a counterfeit coin manufacturing unit in Sonepat’s Industrial Area; the machines and dies were used at the unit to manufacture ₹20 coins, with a reported production capacity of 10,000 to 12000 coins a day. The finishing of the counterfeit coins was also allegedly done carefully to make them difficult to identify as fake at first glance. The police have also claimed to have recovered 6,400 of ₹20 coins from their possession.