Uttar Pradesh fake currency cases up to 81, two more held

NAT41National/CrimeUttar Pradesh fake currency cases up to 81, two more heldLucknow, Sep 28 IANS The number of fake currency cases in Uttar Pradesh so far this year rose to 81 with the arrest of two more people, who were found to possess counterfeit currency worth Rs.6,000, the police said. The two accused admitted to having circulated fake notes worth Rs.10 million. According to police records, fake currency cases are on an alarming rise in the past few years. As compared to 124 cases in 2005, they doubled to 214 in 2006 and increased to 286 in 2007."With 81 cases registered till date this year, the recovery of fake currency has alarmingly exceeded those in the past three years," an official said."Those arrested Saturday belong to the Mehmoodul Hassan gang - wanted for long by the Delhi police. The arrested persons, Sanjay and Jalis Ahmed, were found possessing fake currency worth Rs.6,000 only but admitted to circulating over Rs.10 million in the recent past," inspector Vinod Sirohi of Hassanganj police station told IANS.The police also suspect Sanjay and Ahmed to be linked with the accused in the Domariyaganj State Bank of India fake currency racket unearthed by the Special Task Force STF last month.A fake currency scam of over Rs.40 million came to light in the SBI branch after the arrest of its cashier Sudhakar Tripathi and co-accused Abid Sheikh.The case is presently being handled by the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI.The STF is interrogating Sanjay and Ahmed."As the notes are of very fine quality, we suspect these men to be linked with the accused of Domariyaganj. Initial interrogation also revealed that they were also getting these notes from a person near the Nepal boarder close to Domariyaganj," an STF official said preferring anonymity.Last week, fake currency worth Rs.1.5 million was also recovered from the currency chest of the Oriental Bank of Commerce in Ghaziabad and a case was registered against senior officials of 32 nationalised banks that used to utilise its services.Earlier last month, the state's police officials had asked the RBI to scan the currency chests of all the banks situated in the bordering districts of the state after the scam in Domariyaganj came to light.--Indo-Asian News Servicerr/ak/dg404 Words28091823