KOLKATA: Fake notes worth Rs nine crore have been recovered from Dhamakhali ferry ghat under Sandeshkhali police station in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal. Two persons, namely Sirajuddin Mollah and Debabrata Chakraborty have been arrested in connection with the incident, police said on Saturday.
The two arrested persons had checked into the Royal Guest House near Dhamakhali ferry ghat on Friday night. When buying goods at a local shop, the shopkeeper suspected that the notes were fake after seeing them. He immediately informed the police. Then the police came and detained the two persons. Later, they were arrested.
Some original Indian currency and Nepalese currency were recovered from these two persons. A machine capable of punching large amounts of money was also found in their possession. Additionally, two Aadhaar cards have been recovered from Sirajuddin.
The arrested are being interrogated, with the investigators trying to figure out the reason behind their stay at the Royal Guest House, whether they were planning to meet anyone in Dhamakhali, and what was their intended use of the extra Aadhaar cards.
Efforts are being made to find if others are involved in this fake currency racket.
Dhamakhali is a strategic location from where one can go to Kolkata, via Basanti highway, or to Bangladesh, through a river. Therefore, it is being investigated whether the arrested people had a plan to escape to Bangladesh.