Graphic designer and associate managed to print ‘near-perfect’ Rs 2,000/500 notes

When the Central Government had announced the demonetisation move on November 8, they had justified the move, by claiming that it was a war on Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) smugglers. 

But two months since the move, a 25-year-old man, with an expertise in Photoshop and page making, along with his associate managed to print the new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 amounting to Rs 6,10,500, to near perfection, in a one room set in Uttam Nagar.  

Their currency printing press finally stopped, when a team from AATS, South West District, managed to arrest the accused, Krishan, the page making expert and Ashish his associate from Bindapur area on Monday. Police have recovered FICN worth, Rs 6,10, 500, one high-quality scanner and a printer. Furthermore, the accused have circulated Rs 20, 000 in FICN in local markets in South-West Delhi. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (South -West), Surender Kumar,

“We had received information that some individuals had managed to replicate the newly introduced Rs 2000 and Rs 500 notes and were exchanging the money in South West District area. We had started using our local sources, technical surveillance and secret informers”.

On Monday, Head Constable, Pratap, had received information from his local sources that the two accused, who were printing the FICN, could be found near Kiran Garden in Bindapur. The accused were giving out the new notes at a 50 percent rate, and the police managed to strike a deal with them. “Around 4 pm, the police had reached the spot and identified the accused and made contact with them. They were carrying Rs 4,000 and had exchanged it with the constable for Rs 2,000. The minute the exchange took place, we apprehended the duo,” Kumar added.

When the accused were interrogated, the police had found that Krishan was the mastermind of the entire syndicate. He had roped in his associate, Ashish, who used to work in a hardware repairing shop and had printed more than six lakh in FICN.

“The duo had been printing the FICN for the past one month, in a one room set in Uttam Nagar. Krishan, was the brains behind the operation as he had replicated the notes to near perfection using his knowledge of Photoshop, Corel draw and page making. The high-quality scanners and printers were supplied by Ashish. They used to locally source all the materials used for making the fake notes,” said Kumar.   

The accused later revealed some worrying details, as they claimed that Rs 20,000 in FICN had already been circulated in local vegetable markets, cloth shops and pan kiosks. Now the police are on the look-out for six more accused who may be involved in the case. “Six people may also be involved in the case. They have all fled from their homes. Efforts are on to trace them, and also to recover the FICN which has been circulated,” he added.