Two men, arrested in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli on Saturday with fake currency notes worth Rs 6.04 lakh, took to the illegal way to clear their debts, police said.
Taking a cue from YouTube videos, the two men printed fake notes at home using a printer and normal paper, police said. The accused were identified as Arun Kaushal, 32, a resident of Doiwala locality in Dehradun, and Pankaj Rawat, 30, who hails from Delhi but was living in Sahastradhara Road area in Dehradun.
The two who used to do labour jobs were arrested in Gauchar area of Chamoli with 302 fake currency notes of Rs 2000 denomination. A case was registered against them at Karnprayag Kotwali police station of Chamoli.
“The two accused had come from Dehradun to circulate the fake notes in remote villages of Chamoli, but were nabbed by police who got a tip-off about them,” said Chirtragupta, station house officer (SHO), Karnprayag Kotwali. “They had planned to circulate them in villages thinking that villagers cannot differentiate between real and fake notes.”
He said the two were under a debt of Rs 5 lakh and unable to repay the loan they had taken from known persons, they chose the illegal way.
“The two had confessed to police that they had planned to circulate the fake currency notes in far-flung villages by buying local herbs and animal pelts. They also thought of circulating them during night at shops to minimise the chances of getting caught,” Chitragupta said, adding that Arun was the mastermind who used to work at a fabrication shop in Dehradun.
{{/usCountry}}“The two had confessed to police that they had planned to circulate the fake currency notes in far-flung villages by buying local herbs and animal pelts. They also thought of circulating them during night at shops to minimise the chances of getting caught,” Chitragupta said, adding that Arun was the mastermind who used to work at a fabrication shop in Dehradun.
{{/usCountry}}“As Arun had knowledge about printing, measurements and colour combinations, he learnt some more by watching videos on YouTube and then started printing them at his home on normal printers,” the SHO said. “Investigations are on to find out if some more people are involved in the crime.”
Calling it a serious crime, additional director general of police Ashok Kumar said, “The police are taking necessary steps to curb circulation of fake currency notes in the state, but the Reserve Bank of India should do more about making the masses aware about fake and real currency notes.”