Gujarat financier’s arrest leads to seizure of Rs 4.49 crore in fake notes

Police officers, who spent an entire night counting the stash, said they recovered 22,479 fake copies of the new Rs 2,000 note in total.

In one of the biggest fake currency seizures witnessed by the country after demonetisation, police recovered counterfeit notes of Rs 2,000 with a face value of over Rs 4.49 crore from two different locations in Rajkot over the last few days.

Police officers, who spent an entire night counting the stash, said they recovered 22,479 fake copies of the new Rs 2,000 note in all.

It all started when Rajkot-based financier Ketan Dave was arrested on the basis of a cheating case lodged by Nitin Ajani, a scrap dealer, on February 23. An interrogation led to the seizure of 2,858 notes of Rs 2,000 – with a face value of Rs 57,16,000 – from Dave’s office. The financier told investigators that fake notes amounting to over Rs 1 crore were already set ablaze by his accomplices, Parth Terieya and Umer Gajjar.

Upon being questioned, Gajjar revealed that Dave used to hide counterfeit notes in his cars. Police became suspicious after discovering that one of the many vehicles owned by the financier was missing.

A search followed, and the car was found parked on a ground located near 150-feet-ring road on Friday. A closer inspection revealed the presence of Rs 3.94 crore in fake currency notes inside the vehicle.

Six people have been arrested in the case so far, and an investigation is on.