Bhubaneswar: In a major crackdown on counterfeit currency, Subarnapur police on Sunday seized fake notes worth over Rs 4 lakh from the Binika area and arrested three persons in connection with the case.
The accused have been identified as Ashok Nayak and Abhisek Hota of Binika and Jayanarayan Bastia of Rengali. The trio has been produced before the court.
According to police, all the seized notes were in Rs 500 denomination.
“Yesterday, we received information that some people in the Binika area were cheating others by circulating fake Rs 500 notes. Acting on the tip-off, our team conducted a raid and arrested three persons. We seized over 800 counterfeit notes, amounting to around Rs 4 lakh, from their possession,” said Subarnapur SP Narayan Nayak while briefing the media.
The SP further informed that the accused had already circulated fake notes worth around Rs 2 lakh in the local market before being caught.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had procured counterfeit notes worth Rs 6 lakh from Bargarh by paying Rs 1 lakh in genuine currency.
Police have initiated further investigation to trace others involved in the racket and to ascertain the source of the counterfeit notes.
