₹200 note a rare sight, but fakes already out in Jammu
Fake currency worth over ₹6 lakh seized from outskirts of Jammu city from Showkat Ahmed, a native of Kulgam, whose links with militant outfits have not been established as yet
JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Friday seized fake currency worth over ₹6 lakh, which included 270 notes of ₹200 and arrested the main accused, who had been allegedly printing it at his rented house in Sidhra on the outskirts of the winter capital Jammu. The ₹200 note, interestingly, has only been printed from August this year and is still a rarity in daily trade around the nation.
Reasi senior superintendent of police (SSP) Tahir Sajad Bhat told Hindustan Times that on December 1 an FIR was registered after fake currency of ₹6,000 (12 currency notes of ₹500 each) was used by one Mohammed Maqbool of Sungri in Chassana area of Reasi district.
“Consequently, a special investigation team (SIT) was constituted which cracked the case. We have arrested the main accused Showkat Ahmed, a native of Noourpura in Kulgam district of Kashmir. He was putting up at a rented house in Sidhra on the outskirts of Jammu city,” said Bhat.
We arrested him from his rented house on the intervening night of December 6 and 7, said the SSP.
He informed that during the raid, police seized fake currency of ₹6,30,950 from his house.
“It was in the denomination of 1,150 notes of ₹500, 270 notes of ₹200 and 19 notes of ₹50,” he said.
Besides this, the police party also seized one computer including a CPU, a scanner, paper cutting machine, paper cutter and a bundle of photocopy papers.
“He used to print fake currency on executive bonds (a refined quality paper). He had been printing fake currency for the past five months,” said Bhat.
The accused had been running a photostating shop in Chassana.
To a query, the officer said, “He is being interrogated but as of now his links with militant outfits have not been established.”
On November 8 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced demonitisation banning old currency notes of ₹500 and ₹1000 denominations to check corruption, black money and fake currency.