₹9 cr fake currency seized from Sandeshkhali guest house in Bengal; 2 arrested

Police said that there were only notes of ₹500 denomination which were kept in bags and cardboard boxes

Kolkata: Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) worth ₹9 crore were seized and two persons were arrested from a guest house at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on Friday, police said.

Polcie said only the first and the last notes of each bundle were original and the rest were all fake. (Representational image)

This comes months after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee flagged concerns over illegal arms and FICN entering the state through various routes and asked the state police to step up naka checking along state and district boundaries.

“We have arrested two persons. FICN worth around ₹9 crore were seized from a guest house in Sandeshkhali. Two persons, both residents of South 24 Parganas, have been arrested. Investigation is going on,” said an IPS officer of Basirhat police district.

Police said that there were only notes of ₹500 denomination which were kept in bags and cardboard boxes. Only the first and the last notes of each bundle were original. The rest were all fake.

In February 2024, Sandeshkhali was rocked by violent protests, mostly led by village women, over allegations of sexual abuse and illegal land grabbing by Sheikh Shahjahan, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman, and his aides.

North 24 Parganas shares a border with Bangladesh. Nearly the entire boundary is riverine and unfenced.

“The duo Debabrata Chakraborty and Sirajuddin Mollah had put up in a guest house at Dhamakhali, which is reportedly owned by one of Shahjahan’s close aides,” said an officer of Sandeshkhali police station.

The incident came to light after a local shopkeeper alerted the police. Mollah had gone to the local market and had given a note to a shopkeeper who got suspicious and informed the police.

“When police raided the guest house where the two were staying, they found bundles of currency notes. They were all of ₹500 denomination and were kept in bags and cardboard boxes. Only the first and the last notes were original,” said an officer.

The accused persons were produced in the court on Saturday. The court sent them to police custody for 12 days. Police are now trying to find out the source of the notes and what the duo was planning to do with it.

Police also recovered two Aadhaar cards from Mollah with two different identities. A few Nepalese currency notes were also seized from them.