Jajpur/Kalinganagar: Acting on a tip-off, police busted a fake currency note racket and a printing unit and arrested six persons and seized Rs 4.77 lakh of fake notes from their possession at Danagadi haat under Jajpur Road police limits in Jajpur district, Wednesday.
This was revealed by Jajpur SP Charan Singh Meena while addressing a press conference Wednesday.
Prime accused Chandan Bal alias Chandramani, 35, of Chhachina village under Mangalpur police limits and his accomplices Bapina Sethy, 23, of Danagadi, Manoj Das, 31, of Manpur village, Tapan Jena, 26, of Dhapanki village under Jajpur Road police limits, Ajay Kumar Sahu, 24, and Mayadhar Patra, 64, of Bhuban in Dhenkanal district were arrested.
A case was registered in this connection and the accused were produced in court after interrogation. One colour printer, a paper cutter, mobile phones and two motorcycles were also seized from their possession.
Chandramani is a history-sheeter and was previously arrested in 2017 on same charge by Kaliapani police. He was jailed for the offence but got involved again in fake currency racket after his release from jail. The accused persons used to exchange Rs 1 lakh counterfeit notes in exchange of Rs 25,000 genuine notes.
Preliminary inquiries indicated that the extent of the fake currency racket is not limited to the area alone but is extended to Bhubaneswar via Danagadi, Dhenkanal, Bhadrak and Cuttack.
The breakthrough came after Danagadi OIC Gobardhan Nayak learnt about the existence of a fake currency racket in Danagadi area. He said the Jajpur Road IIC Anil Kumar Mohanty informed the SP and carried out a raid in Danagadi haat on his direction.
The police team caught Chandramani and Bapina red-handed while they were exchanging fake notes of Rs 500 denomination with a shopkeeper.
Later, the police raided Mangalpur residence of Chandramani and seized the printing equipment and Rs 3.60 lakh from his house. Rest of the accused were arrested based on the admission of Chandramani. Rs 1.17 lakh was seized from their possession.
PNN
