PUNE: At least six people have been arrested for allegedly printing and circulating fake currency notes of Rs 500 denomination and seized 440 notes worth over Rs 2 lakh in Pune district.
The accused have been identified as Ritik Khadse, Suraj Yadav, Akash Dhangekar, Suyog Salunkhe, Tejas Ballal, and Pravan Gahvane.
The Dehu Road police station of Pimpri-Chinchwad police in Pune district on Monday arrested the six accused for printing and circulating counterfeit currency notes of Rs 500 denomination and seized notes worth Rs 2,20,000.
According to Assistant Police Commissioner Devidas Kashinath Ghevre, “Based on the tip-off from creditable sources, officials of the Dehu Road police station laid a trap to apprehend an accused who was expected to arrive at the Dehu Road area with a counterfeit note.”
“As per credentials shared by sources, police officials stopped and detained a suspect who came to a decided location riding a motorcycle, and after being searched, police found 140 fake notes of 500 denominations from him,” he said.
With further investigation from him, it was revealed by the accused, Ritik Khadse, that these notes were being printed in a commercial shop in the Bhosari area using an offset printing machine.
After receiving the information, a team of police immediately rushed to the said shop and found an offset printing machine, printing ink and other printing material, along with special papers used for printing counterfeit notes and some half- and full-printed notes.
As of now, 6 people have been arrested in the case and are currently placed in police custody.
As no international connections surfaced, all the arrested accused were held in Maharashtra’s Pune.
During the investigation, an accused revealed to police that they had acquired an offset printing machine from Pune for printing pamphlets, etc., but had been influenced by various social media posts to print counterfeit currency notes.
Following the arrest, a case has been filed under Sections 489(c) (possession of forged or counterfeit currency notes or bank notes) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused at the Dehu Road police state.
Further investigation into the matter is underway. (ANI)