BALASORE: Five persons were arrested on Sunday by Simulia police in Balasore district for allegedly circulating counterfeit notes. The accused, identified as Tarakanta Biswal, Satya Narayan Panda, Manoranjan Barik, Sk Salim and Sk Rizwan, have been produced in a local court here.
Police sources said they were arrested from separate places during raids. Counterfeit notes of around `1.48 lakh in `2,000 denomination have been seized from their possession.
On April 10, police had first intercepted one Bishnu Nayak, who had deposited `1.5 lakh with Khirikona Seva Cooperative Samiti of which `44,000 was found to be fake.”During interrogation, Nayak revealed the source from where he got the fake currency notes. Basing on his information, raids were conducted at different places. We have so far arrested five persons in this connection,” said a police official.
A special team has been formed and the police are investigating whether the accused are part of any major counterfeit currency racket.
“Probe is on to ascertain whether they themselves printed the notes or procured from somewhere else,” the official added.