COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore city police arrested a 31-year-old man for possession of fake currency notes, and were on the lookout for two others, who had printed the counterfeits. Based on specific intelligence, the police raided a room on Thadagam Road in Velandipalayam and seized 5,904 counterfeit notes of Rs 2,000 denomination. The total face value was pegged at Rs 1.18 crore.
The arrested man, B Ananth (31), is a resident of Marudhukonar Street in Velandipalayam in the city. He was riding a two-wheeler when he was stopped on Friday evening by Inspector Mohanraj of the Race Course police during a routine vehicle check on Thadagam Road.
Ananth, who is facing several two-wheeler theft cases, was checked thoroughly and the police found four Rs 2,000 notes on him. As these notes were very thin, the police suspected them to be fake. Ananth denied this and claimed innocence when he was questioned. The suspicious police took him to the nearby Saibaba Colony police station, where he was questioned further. During the interrogation, Ananth revealed that two others, who had rented a room on Thadagam Road, were printing fake notes.
Based on the information, the Saibaba Colony police raided the room on Saturday and seized 5,904 counterfeit notes of Rs 2,000 denomination. They also recovered printing equipment and materials.
A senior city police official said the two men had been printing fake notes only for a brief period, but might have put in circulation 500-1,000 of them. However, these notes can be easily identified as fake as they used very low-quality paper to print. The culprits are not educated, he added.
The two, the official told Express, would scan a few original Rs 2000 notes, change the number, and then print them on the colour printer. They would then take copies of the printed notes. They were also careful to shuffle the printed fake notes and see that they do not carry two of them with the same number.
The Saibaba Colony police booked them under IPC sections 489 (A) (counterfeiting currency notes), 489 (B) (using counterfeit currency notes), 489 (C) (possession of counterfeit currency notes), 489 D (making or possessing instruments or materials for forgoing or counterfeiting currency notes).
The city police formed a special team to arrest the two men who are on the run. Their location was identified, said Dharmaraj. On Friday, the Salem Town police arrested three persons for giving a fake Rs 2,000 note to vendors. However, there is no connection between the cases, sources said.