Intelligence inputs have revealed that fake currency notes are being pumped into the wholesale markets in and around Mumbai.
To check the circulation of fake notes, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has stepped up vigil around these market hubs in many areas including Byculla, Andheri and the APMC market in Navi Mumbai.
A senior ATS officer said: “We are educating traders and
wholesalers to help them identify fake notes. These market places have become an easy target, as they are crowded and a large number of notes are exchanged.”
With the fake notes appearing almost real with an impeccable watermark and high-quality paper, the police are also suggesting that the traders buy machinery which helps in differentiating fake notes from the original ones.
ATS officers came to know about the focus on wholesale market from 10 accused arrested by the squad for allegedly possessing and circulating fake currency notes.
The ATS arrested four people from Bengal in connection with the fake currency notes. They are Ibrahim Shaikh, 19; Barkat Shaikh, 19; Javed Shaikh, 36; and Mohammed Hashimuddin, 30.
The police arrested them in Mankhurd and seized fake currency worth Rs50,000 from them. They told the ATS officers that they were given the task of circulating the notes in APMC market.
Similarly, in another case, one Ainul Shaikh, 25, who was arrested in the last week of January for allegedly possessing fake notes worth Rs4.25lakh told investigators that he was in charge of circulating fake notes in Andheri and western suburbs.
Senior ATS officials said that before wholesale markets became the new target points, in 2008, the fake currency mafia had targeted fish markets in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane districts.
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