KOCHI: Three persons were arrested from Coimbatore after Rs 1.8 crore in fake currency notes was seized from them in a joint operation carried out by Udayamperoor police and the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on Wednesday night.
In March, the Udayamperoor police arrested two persons with fake currency of Rs 1.74 lakh in a case in which the same gang is believed to have been involved. This takes the total number of people arrested in this case to five.
Rasheed from Thrissur, Syed Sultan and Ashraf Ali from Coimbatore, were arrested in the operation carried out on Wednesday night, the police said. The confiscated amount was in the denomination of Rs 2000.
"A detailed inquiry is underway and more persons involved in the case will be arrested in the coming days," said an officer with the investigation team.
On March 28, the Udayamperoor police arrested Priyankumar K K, 36, of Irumbanam in Tripunithura and Dhanya, 38, of Karunagappilly, with fake currency of Rs 1.74 lakh. The seized amount was also in the denomination of Rs 2,000.
As per a tip-off received by Kochi city police commissioner C H Nagaraju, the police conducted the raid in the rented house of Priyankumar at Nadakkavu and seized 86 fake notes.
"The sleuths seized counterfeit currencies valued at Rs 1.8 crore from the house at Al Ameen Colony at Ukkadam, Coimbatore. Earlier, the investigation team arrested a person from Vallal Nagar at Karumbukadai on Tuesday and the inputs from him led to the seizure of the notes and the arrest of the other man on Wednesday. Priyankumar has confessed that he obtained the currency notes from a gang based at Coimbatore. Hence the investigation was extended with the help of the ATS," said the officer.