KOCHI: One of the main players of the counterfeit racket busted at Painkutty near Elanji, who had been on the run for about a year, landed in the police net. Raveendran, 63, hailing from Udumbanchola, Idukki, was arrested when he arrived at his house. The investigators had arrested 10 accused in the case earlier while Raveendran had been absconding.
Acting on a tip-off received by Crime Branch SP M P Mohanachandran, who is heading the investigation team, the sleuths picked Raveendran up. He had been staying in hideouts outside the state and various districts in the state for the past one year, according to the police.
A joint operation carried out by the Koothattukulam police and the anti-terrorist squad busted the racket that operated from a luxurious house and seized fake notes of Rs 500 denomination amounting to a face value of Rs 7.57 lakh on July 27 last year.
The police seized fake bills, five printers, a machine each for photocopying, screen printing, and currency counting, and ink and papers used by the gang to print the fake notes. One of the accused took the house on rent after convincing the owner that the group was involved in television serial production for a Malayalam TV channel.