Berhampur: Baidyanathpur police in Odisha’s Berhampur district busted a racket dealing with counterfeit currency notes and arrested five people in this connection on Tuesday. The accused had reportedly promised the victims of availing them of unsecured loans that would double the money the latter deposited.
Lured by the promise, two persons deposited Rs 28 lakh with the fraudsters and allegedly received Rs 40 lakh in counterfeit currency notes in return.
The accused have been identified as Badrinath Panda and Akshaya Nayak from the district, while the victims are Sachin Mohapatra and Surya Narayan Patra.
According to reports, the fraudsters had promised to pay currency notes worth Rs 10 lakh to the victims in exchange for legal tenders worth Rs 9 lakh each. However, after receiving around Rs 28 lakh from Sachin and Surya Narayan, the fraudsters gave the victims fake currencies of Rs 40 lakh.
Realising their folly, the victims filed a complaint at the Baidyanathpur police station regarding the fraud on Tuesday. Acting on the complaint, Baidyanathpur police detained Badrinath, Akshaya, and three others in this connection and launched a probe.
“The fake currency racket has links with other fraudsters from outside Odisha. A detailed investigation is underway and we will soon arrest all the culprits,” Berhampur SP Saravana Vivek M said.
