Nagpur man held for printing Rs 85 lakh in fake notes to bury after prayers

Nagpur: An educated young man, struggling with money troubles and failures in life, chose a path whose justification left even the police stunned. Pushpak Bandane, who printed fake currency notes with the help of a computer and printer in a rented room, has finally been arrested by the Wathoda police.

He says he was going to worship the fake notes and pray for wealth. After the wish was fulfilled, he was going to bury the notes in the ground and grow a tulsi plant there. The police are puzzled by his absurd claims. He was produced in court and remanded in police custody until October 30.

Pushpak lived in a rented house in Chaitanyeshwar Nagar. As he was not paying rent, the landlord was pressing him to vacate, but Pushpak began threatening the landlord instead. Suspicious of his activities, the landlord informed the Wathoda police with the help of MNS workers. When the police raided his room on the night of October 24, the printing of fake notes came to light.

Fake notes worth Rs 85 lakh in all were found in the room. Of these, notes worth Rs 37 lakh had been printed on both sides, while notes worth Rs 48 lakh had been printed on one side only. The police had been searching for Pushpak since then. On Sunday night he was finally caught.

The police inquiry found that Pushpak is an educated young man from an ordinary family. He earlier ran a ration shop, but later lost the business. About two and a half years ago, after a divorce from his wife, he began living alone. After the ration shop closed, he did online share trading and suffered heavy losses in that too. These circumstances left him struggling with financial crisis and mental stress.

According to Pushpak, during exorcism rites and worship he had vowed to obtain great wealth. He needed notes for the worship, and he devised the idea of meeting that need with fake notes. About a week ago, he began printing notes with the help of a computer and printer.

Pushpak claimed in police questioning that he knew he could be caught if he passed fake notes in the market and that it is a serious offence. He therefore printed the notes to keep with him rather than circulate them. He was going to bury the notes in the ground after the worship and grow a tulsi plant there. These strange claims have left the police confused. Given the seriousness of the case and the accused's mental state, the police are questioning him carefully.

Pushpak's parents and brother live in Deshpande Layout. The brother runs a ration shop. The family says they have had no contact with Pushpak for the past two and a half years and so cannot give any information about his activities.

During questioning in police custody, efforts are now being made to find out what resources Pushpak used to print the fake notes, whether anyone else was involved, and what his real intention was behind the recovered notes.