Auraiya: In a major crackdown on a counterfeit currency racket, a joint team of Kotwali Police, SOG and Surveillance Unit arrested six members of a cheating gang involved in circulation of fake notes on Monday. The arrests were made during a suspicious vehicle checking drive near the Devkali outpost following a tip-off from an informer. Police stopped a Hyundai Creta car without a registration number, fitted with a red-blue beacon and a fake judge emblem. Upon checking the vehicle, all six accused were taken into custody. Superintendent of Police Abhishek Bharti, while addressing the media at the Kotwali premises, identified the arrested accused as Manish Pachauri, Munesh Chandra, Rahul Sharma, Dilip, Akash Vichpuriya and Indrajeet Yadav. The police recovered counterfeit currency worth ₹2.20 lakh, several mobile phones, two bags containing “children bank” notes worth approximately ₹75 lakh and ₹5.07 lakh in genuine Indian currency from their possession. Additionally, a fake judge insignia, red-blue beacon and a journalism-related microphone ID were also seized from the vehicle.
During interrogation, the accused confessed that they used social media platforms, especially Instagram, to trap people by offering ₹4 lakh in fake currency in exchange for ₹1 lakh in real money. Most of the seized counterfeit notes were of ₹500 denomination. The accused further revealed that they prepared bundles by placing one genuine note on the top and bottom while stuffing children bank notes in between. By creating urgency, they would collect the genuine cash and flee. To avoid arrest, they used a vehicle displaying a judge logo, red-blue beacon and sometimes even impersonated journalists using a fake microphone ID. SP Abhishek Bharti appreciated the police team for their effective action. The arresting team included Kotwali In-charge Inspector Rajkumar Singh, SWAT Team In-charge Prashant Singh, Surveillance In-charge Samit Chaudhary, Sub-Inspector Jitendra Tiwari and SI Zakir Hussain who played a commendable role in the successful operation.
Further investigation is underway to identify other members linked to the gang and trace their wider network.
