The NIA has arrested two alleged key conspirators in a case involving recovery of counterfeit Indian currency notes with a face value of Rs 17.29 crore from a Punjab National Bank (PNB) currency chest in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, officials said on Thursday.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Ajay Kumar from Haryana's Ambala on October 16, and Harish Rounta from Manali in Himachal Pradesh on October 22, the agency said in a statement.
The NIA alleged that the two were involved in the "illegal printing and supplying of a huge quantity of fake Indian currency notes" which, through other accused persons, reached the PNB currency chest in Saharanpur.
The case came to light on August 29, when Saharanpur police received information about recovery of counterfeit Indian currency notes with a face value of Rs 17.29 crore from PNB's currency chest in Civil Lines area.
The alleged involvement of three bank employees surfaced during inquiry, following which they were suspended by the bank, the statement said.
A case was initially registered in Saharanpur on August 29 under Section 178 (counterfeiting of currency) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, against three accused persons.
The NIA re-registered the case on September 3 and took over the investigation.
Earlier, the agency had arrested five persons in connection with the case in September. These include Amit Kumar, named in the FIR, key accused Adesh Choudhary, Mukesh Kumar, Rajender and Nitu.
The NIA said Ajay Kumar and Harish Rounta were "close associates" of Choudhary and other arrestees in the conspiracy relating to placement of counterfeit Indian currency notes in the bank's currency chest.
The agency said investigation is underway to unravel the complete conspiracy and arrest the remaining co-accused and suspects.
A currency chest is a facility operated by banks to store cash on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for distribution to bank branches and ATMs.
