Deogarh: Police have busted a fake currency note racket spreading across several districts and arrested one person in Odisha’s Deogarh district.
According to sources, the fake currency was first detected by a shop-keeper at Expo Bazar near the private bus stand in Deogarh town. The accused, Binod Singh, had purchased some goods from the shop and made the payment with fake currency notes on Saturday.
Detecting that the notes were fake, the shop-keeper detained Binod and informed the police. By the time the police arrived there, Binod had managed to escape. Binod, belonging to Brajrajnagar in Jharsuguda district, was staying at Khapara Sahi under Deogarh police limits.
On Sunday, the police conducted a raid on Binod’s house and arrested him. During the raid, the police seized 135 fake notes of Rs 500 denomination and 20 notes of Rs 200. The face value of the seized notes was Rs 69,500.
The police also seized a bank passbook, 14 ATM cards, 6 mobile phones and a Bolero car from the possession of Binod.
During interrogation, Binod told the police that he had procured fake notes of Rs 1 lakh from Punei Oram of Saldega village under Gurundia police station in Sundargarh district by paying Rs 30,000.
On the basis of Binod’s statement, police detained Punei who revealed that he had brought the fake notes from Madhu Barik of Bargarh. The police have launched a manhunt to trace Madhu who is absconding.
The police have forwarded Binod to court and launched an investigation to unearth the entire racket.