Duo held in Ggn with fake `500 notes

Eight months after demonetisation of higher currency notes was announced by the Centre, the situation seems to be coming back to square one with criminals now able to replicate the new Rs 500 notes.

On Wednesday evening, the Crime Branch of Gurugram Police captured two people who were involved in not only printing new fake Rs 500 notes, but also successful in using it in place of the original notes.

The two arrested accused have been identified as Sombir and Suraj and have been taken into judicial remand for three days.

They will be charged under sections of 489 A (counterfeiting currency), 489 B (usage of forged bank currency notes), 489 C (possession of counterfeit notes) and 489 D (possessing materials for making the counterfeit notes). Gurugram Police was able to catch hold of the two on the basis of a tip-off.

Cops were told that there were some people possessing illegal notes who would come to the city.

As soon as they entered the city, both Sombir and Suraj were stopped by the team of police personnel and three samples of fake Rs 500 notes were recovered from them.

The police mentioned that Sombir and Suraj had started out as plumbers in Rohtak, but soon shifted to the illegal business of fake currency notes after watching their uncle do the same in Rohtak three years ago.

Though their uncle was arrested and is presently lodged in Jhajjar jail, it did not prevent them from carrying on with the fake notes business.

To make the fake currency notes, the accused would get the machine from Delhi. The counterfeit notes were initially printed in Ajmer, Rajasthan.

The police now plan to also interrogate people who had helped them at different levels for making the fake currency notes.

"We will be interrogating the two to find out how many other people are involved in this process. We suspect that there is a deeper racket involved in this crime, but the information about that is subject to subsequent investigations," said a senior official from Gurugram Police.