New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested two accused linked to the kingpin of the conspiracy relating to the circulation of counterfeit currency notes through the Punjab National Bank chest in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, an official said on Sunday.
The two accused were identified as Mukesh Kumar, son of Som Prakash and resident of Village Hasanpur Kadeem, Manoharpur, and Rajendra Kumar, son of Pyare Lal and resident of Village Kalyanpur, Sarsawa, the NIA said in a statement.
Both the accused are close associates of the arrested key accused Adesh Choudhary and are key accused in the conspiracy relating to the circulation of counterfeit currency notes through the Punjab National Bank currency chest, Civil Lines, Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in case RC-02/2026/NIA/LKW, the NIA said.
On August 29, Police Station Sadar Bazar, District Saharanpur, UP, received credible information regarding the recovery of counterfeit Indian currency notes with a face value of Rs 17.29 crores from the currency chest of Punjab National Bank, Civil Lines, Saharanpur, the NIA said in a statement.
The involvement of three employees of the bank also surfaced during the inquiry, and they were accordingly suspended by the bank, the statement said.
The case was initially registered as FIR No. 0431/2026, dated August 29, at Police Station Sadar Bazar, District Saharanpur, UP, under section 178 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, against the accused persons, and was re-registered by NIA on 3rd September 2026.
Earlier, on 7th and 15th September 2026, NIA had arrested FIR-named accused Amit Kumar and Adesh Choudhary, respectively.
Investigation is ongoing to unfold the complete conspiracy and to arrest the remaining co-accused persons and suspects.
On September 16, the NIA announced the arrest of Adesh Choudhary, a contractual driver attached to the PNB currency chest in connection with the counterfeit conspiracy.
Choudhary, a resident of Gangoh Road in New Nandpuri Colony under Qutub Sher Police Station in Manak Mau of Saharanpur, is among the key accused in the case.
Earlier, on September 7, the NIA had arrested another accused named Amit Kumar.
However, officials said Choudhary, who worked as a contractual driver at the currency chest, is suspected to have played an important role in the larger racket involving the circulation of high-value fake currency notes.
(IANS)
