A fake currency racket has been busted in Mizoram. The operation was carried out on Saturday. Acting on a tip-off, members of a special narcotic cell under the Mizoram CID arrested MR Barbhuiya, 46, and Fatul Islam, 35, at Vaivakawn in state capital Aizawl. Both are from Assam.
“We seized various machines, papers, printers, cotton rolls and chemicals used for making fake currency besides a specific type of adhesive,” said a senior CID officer. “They were preparing to mint fake currency worth Rs 5 crore on the night we caught them.”
Barbhuiya and Islam were on Monday sent to police custody for further interrogation, after they were produced before the local court.
The police had on April 27 arrested one Rosy Ramdinthari, 22, in Aizawl. That raid yielded fake currency notes worth Rs 8,16,500. Police recovered 773 fake notes of Rs 1000 denomination and 87 more of Rs 500 denomination.
Fake currency notes of Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations are in circulation in the Northeast. Banks and financial institutions in the region have taken a series of measures including installation of fake note detection machines to check the menace.