One held in Malda for printing fake Rs 2,000 notes

Around two months after the Centre announced the demonetisation of high value currency notes, police have arrested a person from the bordering area of Malda and recovered new currency notes in Rs 2,000 denominations.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of police conducted a raid late Sunday night in a village in Malda near the Indo-Bangladesh border area and nabbed the accused.

Police suspect that the accused entered India through the porous border area in Malda. Investigating officers are yet to confirm the route that was being used to smuggle in the fake notes.

Police have started a detailed probe in this connection. They are yet to divulge the identity of the accused and the value of the currency notes that have been recovered in the operation. They believe the accused is a Bangladeshi national and had been involved in an international fake currency racket.

The investigating officers were astonished to see the method in which the fake new currency was printed. They are, meanwhile, conducting further investigations into the incident to know the involvement of other people.

According to preliminary investigation, police suspect that the fake were smuggled into the country from Bangladesh via Kathmandu. They did not however rule out the possibility of the fake notes being printed in a neighbouring country.

Police are trying to figure out the modus operandi and the involvement of any other culprits in the currency printing racket. Investigating officers are also trying to find out how the culprits managed to print fake Rs 2,000 currency notes within a short duration of its official production.

Police have not yet divulged any vital information in relation to the incident. It has been learnt from sources that the quality of the fake notes was below the standards of those found in the market.