NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, DEC 31
Two persons have been arrested for alleged possession of over Rs 1.44 crore in the fake currency in Ahmedabad city, an official from the Government Railway Police said on Thursday.
While one of the accused was nabbed with the counterfeit notes at Kalupur railway station on Wednesday night, another was apprehended as soon as he landed at Ahmedabad airport from Delhi, an official release stated.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that instead of circulating these notes in the market, the accused had brought them to Gujarat to destroy them, the official said.
During routine patrolling, some GRP constables spotted a man acting suspiciously after alighting from Delhi-Ahmedabad Rajdhani Express around 8.30 pm on Wednesday, and intercepted him, he said
The constables asked Vikas Sharma (31), a resident of Kalol town in Gandhinagar, to open his bag and found 7,240 notes of Rs 2,000 denomination, of the value of over Rs 1.44 crore, it was stated.
According to the release, bank officials and forensic experts verified that all the notes were counterfeit and had been printed on substandard paper.
On questioning, Sharma claimed that one Hansraj Lohar of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, gave him these notes, and based on the information, the latter was also arrested when he landed at the airport on Thursday, the release said.
Investigations have revealed that the duo had printed these notes using a laptop and printer at a hotel room in Delhi, said Parikshita Rathod, superintendent of police, Western Railway GRP.
“The accused had printed these notes to impress an antique dealer, with whom they wanted to do business. The accused, who are from well-to-do families, wanted to establish that they have the required cash,” the official said.
Once the purpose was fulfilled, the duo decided to destroy these notes in Gujarat, thinking that it will be easier to do so here, Rathod added.
