CUDDALORE: Six persons, including a former functionary of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), were arrested on Saturday in connection with a counterfeit currency racket that surfaced at a farmhouse near Tittakudi, police said.
The main accused, P Selvam (39) of Atharnatham village under Ramanatham police limits, was previously involved in an assault case. Last month, a police team attempting to arrest him at his farmhouse found he and his associates had fled.
During a search, officers seized counterfeit Rs 500 notes worth Rs 86,000, a firearm, walkie-talkies, a currency printing machine, a counting machine, police uniforms, a laptop, and a fake Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seal.
Following instructions from Cuddalore SP S Jeyakumar, special teams were formed to trace the accused. After a month-long operation, Selvam and five others — I Prabhu (32), R Vallarasu (25), R Periyasamy (29), C Arumugam (30), and D Surya (25) — were arrested in Mangaluru, Karnataka, on Friday and brought to Ramanatham for interrogation.
Selvam, a former treasurer of the VCK’s Cuddalore West District unit, allegedly told several people he had crores abroad from the sale of iridium and needed Rs 4 crore to repatriate it. In return, he promised to double their investments.
“To gain trust, he maintained a lavish lifestyle and circulated forged documents purporting that Rs 32 crore had been transferred to his name by the RBI,” police said. “Using this ploy, the group collected huge sums from across Tamil Nadu, except Cuddalore. None of the investors have been repaid so far.”
When they could no longer sustain the fraud, the group allegedly began printing counterfeit notes using a Xerox machine. They recorded videos showing bundles of fake currency and falsely claimed the money was stored at the RBI. They also donned police uniforms and used airguns to pose as RBI escort staff while transporting the notes to Chennai, police sources added.
All six accused were produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody. Police confirmed that Selvam has since been expelled from the VCK following revelations of his involvement in the scam.