Ahilyanagar: Three held with fake notes worth Rs 93 lakh in money-doubling fraud
Local Crime Branch police in Ahilyanagar have seized fake notes worth about Rs 93 lakh and arrested three men from Baramati; two more gang members are absconding.
The Local Crime Branch police in Ahilyanagar have busted a gang that cheated people using fake currency notes. According to police, the accused lured people with promises such as "we will make money rain" and "we will double your money", took genuine cash from them and handed over fake notes in return. Three people have been arrested and fake notes worth about Rs 93 lakh have been seized from them.
The Local Crime Branch received information that a large stock of fake Indian currency notes was being kept in the MIDC police station area. Acting on this, police raided the Wadgaon Gupta area of Ahilyanagar.
During the raid, police took Ganesh Shewale, Sumit Chandanshive and Suraj Kamble into custody. All three accused are said to be residents of Baramati. Fake Rs 500 notes were found on them in a search. The total value of the notes came to Rs 93 lakh. The recovery of such a large stock caused a stir in the area. Police are now investigating the case in depth.
Police have learnt more in the initial investigation. It has emerged that the accused cheated devotees and ordinary people by showing them various kinds of temptations. People were told that money would be made to rain on them or that their money would be doubled. From those who fell for the ploy, the accused first took genuine cash. They were then cheated by a show of raining fake notes or by creating the illusion that their money had been doubled.
In initial questioning, the accused gave important information about the fake notes. They told police they had brought the notes from Malegaon after paying Rs 25,000. On this basis, police are now trying to trace the source of the notes and the entire network. The investigation is looking at where the notes were actually being made, who else is involved and how many people are part of the network.
Police have arrested Ganesh Shewale, Sumit Chandanshive and Suraj Kamble. Two more members of the gang are said to be absconding. Both are residents of Ahilyanagar city. Police teams are searching for them and are trying to catch them at the earliest.
Police are also trying to find out how many people the gang has cheated so far, and how large the fake-note network is. They are also questioning the accused on whether some of the seized notes had been passed into the market earlier.
