NEW DELHI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Friday said it has busted and dismantled seven modules involved in printing Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) and arrested nine people following a massive crackdown across the four states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh.
Officials said the action was part of the agency’s ongoing drive against modules involved in importing security paper and printing FICNs. DRI officials conducted simultaneous searches at 11 locations across the four states on Thursday, they added.
At Vikhroli West in Mumbai, the sleuths identified and located an importer. After a thorough search in a densely populated area, they uncovered a sophisticated facility for printing and finishing FICNs. Fake currency notes in the denominations of Rs 50 and Rs 100, along with several tools, were seized, officials said.
The seized items included laptops, printers, pen drives, security paper, A-4 size papers, and butter paper with Mahatma Gandhi’s watermark. Officials added that the DRI registered a complaint with the jurisdictional police and arrested one person. All equipment and tools were seized under the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for further investigation.
In Maharashtra’s Sangamner and Kolhapur districts, similar facilities with computers and printers used for printing FICNs were unearthed. Officials said two accused were arrested following raids at these locations, and the contraband was seized by the jurisdictional police under BNS for further investigation.
Interrogation of the accused in the Kolhapur module led to the busting of another printing facility in Belgaum. Kolhapur police arrested three more persons in connection with the case.
At three other locations, including West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, Khagaria in Bihar, and Rohtak in Haryana, the importers of security paper were traced, officials said. Incriminating evidence was recovered.
Restricted security paper and a printer were seized in West Godavari, while laptops, printers, and restricted security paper were recovered in Khagaria. The jurisdictional police arrested three accused, and the case has been handed over for further investigation under BNS, officials said.
On February 8, the DRI arrested two persons in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district and Bengaluru, Karnataka, for allegedly importing high-quality paper embedded with a security thread inscribed with ‘RBI’ and ‘Bharat.’
Following this, on February 9, the DRI busted two more facilities in Thane, Maharashtra, and Bhiwani, Haryana, where FICNs were being printed using imported security paper. Three persons were arrested by the jurisdictional police, officials said.