Dausa fake currency racket sold ₹1L in counterfeit notes for ₹35k

Jaipur: Four members of a counterfeit currency racket arrested in Dausa a day earlier allegedly sold fake currency with a face value of Rs 1 lakh for just Rs 35,000 and built a distribution network across cities, police said.

Four persons, including a juvenile, were apprehended in connection with the case. The arrested accused were identified as Ayush Kumar Meena, 19, Santosh Singh Valmiki, 33, and Vishal Upadhyay, 42. Police said the group was printing and circulating counterfeit Rs 500 notes for the past four to five months.

Police also seized 11 printers, two laptops, six paper rolls, chemicals, watermark dyes, cutting equipment and other materials allegedly used to manufacture the counterfeit currency.

The racket came to light after a shopkeeper in Dausa reported on May 28 that a young man passed a fake Rs 500 note at his shop. Although the note appeared genuine at first glance, police suspected it was counterfeit after examining the quality of the paper.

Acting on the lead, police arrested Ayush, a resident of Dausa district, and recovered 80 counterfeit Rs 500 notes worth Rs 40,000 from his possession. His interrogation led investigators to a juvenile from Alwar, who was allegedly involved in distributing fake currency in Faridabad.

Further investigation led police to Faridabad in Haryana, where Santosh Singh Valmiki, originally from Aligarh, was arrested. Vishal Upadhyay, a native of Uttar Pradesh, was also arrested Monday.

Police said raids at the gang’s hideout revealed that counterfeit notes were already printed and were awaiting cutting and preparation for circulation. Investigators recovered 4,968 fake Rs 500 notes with a total face value of Rs 24.84 lakh.

Officials said the counterfeit notes closely resembled genuine currency and were difficult to detect at first glance. The paper quality was among the few indicators that distinguished them from genuine notes.