Mumbai: Hawker, tailor held for fake note setup

Representation Pic

The Bandra Kurla Complex police arrested two persons and seized Rs 45,000 in fake currency from them on Saturday, as well as R80,000 in cash. They gathered that the accused - who go by the names of Mehendi and Naushad - learned the process of making counterfeit notes from YouTube. They were also selling Rs 10,000 of the fake notes for Rs 5,000, and the cops suspect that's how they made the Rs 80,000 in cash.

The two arrested are 36-year-old tailor Naushad Peer Mohammed Shah, who lives in Bharat nagar, Bandra West. The second accused, a 26-year-old hawker named Ali Mehendi Tehzib Hasan Sayed, is suspected to be the mastermind of the operation. He is a resident of Bandra's Behram Nagar.

The fake currency was printed for the denominations of Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200 and Rs 500 notes, under the strategy that smaller notes would be easily exchanged and circulated in the economy. "Usually such notes are not noticed by shopkeepers or hawkers in the local market and get easily distributed," said a police officer. "However, they were offering R10,000 for R5,000 of original cash, and that's what tipped us off. We are also checking if they were using the notes to circulate among politicians or influence votes."

The police were tipped off about the operation by a person in Bharat Nagar. Under the guidance Dikshit Gedam, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 8, and Suhad Kamble, Assistant Commissioner of Police, BKC, a trap was laid and Naushad's BKC residence was raided.

"Mehendi, who sold antique artefacts, got the idea after seeing it on YouTube," said an officer. "He approached Naushad and they planned the operation. They printed the four notes on both sides of A4 sheets of glossy paper, and cut them out."

ACP Kamble and his team raided Naushad's residence. "We received information about fake notes being circulated in the market," said an officer, "An undercover agent approached Mehendi with a deal and made the arrest. Mehendi led them to Naushad's residence, where the cash, counterfeit notes and the implements used to make them - amounting to R1.95 lakh - were found," said an officer.

The accused told the police they started printing 20 days ago. "We suspect the cash Rs 80,000 was earned by selling fake notes," said an officer. "Mehendi also purchased jeans and clothes from a hawker using 100- and 50-rupee fake notes. ."

Naushad and Mehendi have been booked under Section 489 (A), 489 (B), 489 (C), 489 (D) and 34 of the Indian penal code. "Both the accused were produced in court and have been remanded to police custody till May 8. Further investigation is going on," said a police officer.