Fake notes worth over Rs 14 lakh in Rs 500 denominations seized in Odisha

The Special Task Force (STF) of the Crime Branch on Thursday busted a racket engaged in the illegal business of printing fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) in Odisha’s Bargarh district.

The STF officials with assistance from Bargarh district police busted the racket which was operating from Barpalli area.

Two inter-state criminals- Pattu Yadav of Uttar Pradesh and Balaram Meher of Bargarh district have been arrested in this connection. During the search, fake Indian currency notes of Rs 14 lakh and other articles have been seized during the raid.

Senior officials said the accused, Pattu Yadav, is an expert in printing fake notes. He used to print the fake notes both in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and as well as in Odisha.

Further investigation in this connection with the seizure of the fake notes is underway.

In one of the biggest hauls, the Koraput police on March 2, 2021 had seized counterfeit currency with a face value of a whopping Rs 7.9 crore from a car during a regular vehicular inspection drive under Sunki beat house area. The police seized 1,580 bundles (each bundle consists of 100 notes in the face value of Rs 500 denomination) worth Rs 7.9 crores.

On August 8 last year, the Sambalpur police had busted a gang involved in printing fake Indian currency notes. Fake notes worth Rs 13 lakh were recovered from six persons who were arrested on the charges of running the racket.