Five persons arrested for circulating counterfeit currencies in Vellore

The police team which caught the five accused who circulated counterfeit currencies of ₹500 denominations in Vellore.

Five persons were arrested by Gudiyatham Town police in Vellore on Sunday for circulating counterfeit currencies of ₹500 denominations in the area.

Police identified the arrested persons as Mohammed Rafiq, 48, Ahmed, 56, Kamaraj, 32, Gopal, 51, and Babu, 59. They are residents of Gudiyatham and Ambur towns.

Initial inquiry revealed that the key suspect Rafiq was running a hotel in Karanampettai near Gudiyatham town. He had ordered grocery items through online delivery services. When he received the items, Rafiq paid ₹1,000 in cash to the delivery agent.

Police said the delivery agent was suspicious about the currencies and informed the Gudiyatham Town police, who inspected the hotel run by Rafiq. The police seized ₹50,000 counterfeit currencies of ₹500 denominations in the hotel.

Based on information provided by Rafiq, police searched premises of other members of the gang and found additional ₹1 lakh counterfeit currencies of ₹500 denominations. The police seized a total of ₹1.5 lakh counterfeit currencies from the gang.

The police said the gang told them that they sourced the counterfeit currencies from agents in West Bengal. A case was registered. Later, the gang members were lodged at Central Prison in Vellore. A probe is under way.

Police said that it was the second such incident in the area after two persons were arrested by K.V. Kuppam police near Katpadi for circulating counterfeit currencies of ₹100 denominations at a TASMAC outlet in October this year.