Rs34,000 in FICN seized, 3 arrested

Three more racketeers from Saurashtra have been detained by the police with Rs34,000 in counterfeit currency from their possession. The trio is suspected to be part of the huge fake Indian currency notes (FICN) racket unearthed from the same region two days ago.

A special operation was carried out at Dhangadhra town of Surendranagar district on Thursday night which led to the arrest of an individual who had in his possession FICN amounting to Rs25,000. However, the police refused to divulge his identity.  “We have detained one person here and interrogation is currently on. He had currency notes in denominations of Rs1,000 and Rs500. Right now, it would not be possible for us to give further details,” superintendent of police, Raghvendra Vatsa told DNA.

The person is a native of Chhattisgarh and was using the FICN to purchase grocery items. He sourced fake currency from Bihar, police sources said.

The police believe the arrested man has connections with two persons arrested last month, who used to source FICN from Bihar, as well. “We are investigating the matter and, at this juncture, believe that the Jamanagar and Surendranagar networks have different roots or kingpins,” a police official added.

Meanwhile acting on another tip-off, the special operations group (SOG) of Jamnagar police carried out an operation in Rajkot and arrested two men with 13 FICN in their possession, police sources said.

“The arrested, identified as Yakub alias Firoz Abdul Belim had six fake notes of Rs500 denomination while Abbas Mansur Bharmal had five notes Rs1,000 and two of Rs500,” a senior official said.

According to police sources, Yakub, is an autorickshaw driver from Rajkot. Similarly, Abbas works as an estate agent – the same profession that two others arrested earlier also belonged to. The men arrested from Rajkot claim to have procured the fake currency notes from one Gaffar alia Babu Bhikhusa Fakir, based out of Dwarka.