KOCHI: One more person who was part of the racket involved in printing counterfeit notes at Elanji,near Piravom, was arrested on Monday. Renukumar, 54, of Kottayam, helped the accused to rent the house at Elanji and he was on run after the incident came to light, said police. He was nabbed by the Crime Branch team probing the case. With the arrest of Renukumar, the number of persons nabbed in the case has gone up to eight.
Renukumar was entrusted with the task of scouting for palatial houses for the gang when it shifted location, police said. He arrived at the house in Painkutty near Elanji, a day before the arrest of the gang. The investigators received clues about Renukumar from the other accused, who are now in Crime Branch custody. He was then arrested after tracing his movements, said a source.
The case, which was being investigated by a special team of the Rural police, was later handed over to the Crime Branch. It was on July 27 that a joint operation by the police and anti-terrorist squad (ATS) busted a counterfeit currency manufacturing racket operating from a rented house at Painkutty. Fake `500 currency notes having a face value of `7.57 lakh had been seized in the operation.
Madhusoodhanan, 48, of Pathanamthitta; Stephen, 33, Anand, 24, and Thankamuthu, 60, all from Vandiperiyar in Idukki; Faisal, 34, of Kottayam; Jibi, 36, of Peechi, Thrissur; and Sunilkumar, 40, of Nedumkandam in Idukki were arrested in connection with the incident.
The police team seized fake notes, five printers, a machine each for photocopying, screen printing and currency counting, ink and papers used by the gang to print the fake notes. Madhusoodhanan took the house on rent after convincing the owner that they were involved in television serial production. The gang had been staying at the house for the past nine months. Since the house is situated in a remote area, locals were clueless on the gang’s activities.
He helped accused find rented house
Renukumar, 54, of Kottayam, helped the accused to find the rented house at Elanji
Counterfeit currency racket operated from the rented house
Fake I500 notes having a face value of I7.57 lakh was seized in the operation