RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: The East Godavari Police busted a gang involved in the printing and circulation of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN). Five individuals were arrested in connection with the case, and counterfeit currency with a face value of Rs 1,06,58,000 was recovered from them.
District Superintendent of Police D Narasimha Kishore shared the details of the case with media persons on Saturday. He stated that the police had seized counterfeit currency in denominations of Rs 500, Rs 200, and Rs 100.
The gang had set up operations in Guntur city to print the fake notes.
The accused have been identified as Chitturi Haribabu (34), Seelam Kedareswara Paripurna Srinivas (35), and Cheekatla Yedukondalu (40), all from East Godavari district, along with Donepudi Madhu (27) and Karri Manikumar (40) from Guntur district.
In addition to the counterfeit currency, the police also recovered a car, five mobile phones, a computer and CPU, three printers, two laminators, a pen drive, a computer table, a scanner, and SBI-branded paper seals, along with other printing equipment from the gang’s possession.
The issue came to light when Haribabu, one of the accused, visited a mechanic, Akula Pavan, on February 1 to have his car repaired.
Chitturi Haribabu paid Rs 2,000 in fake currency as an advance, promising to pay the remaining Rs 8,000 after the repairs. On suspicion that the notes were counterfeit, Pavan filed a complaint at the Biccavolu police station.
Cash also seized; accused sent to judicial custody
Upon receiving the information, the SP formed special police teams to investigate the case and arrested four individuals on February 7.
Fake currency with a face value of Rs 3.78 lakh was recovered from them. During interrogation, they revealed that a fifth person, Karri Manikumar, was also involved in the operation. Manikumar was subsequently arrested, and fake notes with a face value of Rs 1,02,80,000 were seized. Police also recovered Rs 9,650 in cash from his residence.
All the accused have been remanded to judicial custody, SP Kishore confirmed.