6 days ago
Delhi man held over fake currency circulation in Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad: A 26-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly purchasing counterfeit currency notes and circulating these in trans-Hindon localities of Ghaziabad, the police said on Wednesday. Officers said that they have also booked the unidentified online friend of the suspect. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)
Police identified him as Ujjwal Jha, a resident of Mandoli, Delhi, working as an assistant manager at a pharmaceutical firm. He was arrested in the Vasundhara Sector 1 area while heading to Raj Nagar on a two-wheeler to hand over the fake currency to one of his contacts, said officers.
'During interrogation, the suspect told police that he met a person on a social media platform a few months ago. Later, during conversations, this online friend offered to provide him fake notes with the face value of ₹3 lakh for ₹1 lakh. He bought them and circulated in markets besides supplying them to his contacts,' said assistant commissioner of police (ACP) (Indirapuram circle) Abhishek Srivastava.
Police recovered 566 fake currency notes of ₹500 denomination allegedly from his possession. 'The fake notes look like the original currency notes and will soon be sent to a forensic lab,' the officer said.
'The physical exchange of fake currency notes happened between the suspect and his online friend. We have certain information about the online friend of the suspect, and all backward and forward linkages in the entire chain are being traced as part of the investigation,' the ACP added.
Jha is suspected to be a link in the chain where fake notes are getting printed and supplied further, officers said, adding that he has purportedly admitted to have purchased fake notes from his online friend earlier as well.
The suspect has been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 318(4) (cheating), 178 (counterfeiting coins, government stamps, currency notes, or bank notes), 179 (using forged or counterfeit coins, government stamps, currency notes, or bank notes as genuine), and 180 (possessing forged or counterfeit coin, government stamp, currency-note, or bank-note) at Indirapuram police station.
Officers said that they have also booked the unidentified online friend of the suspect.
