Churan bank: ATM cash loader held for replacing original notes with fakes
NOTE SWAP Police say only he had access to the notes that day, he removed five genuine notes and replaced them with bogus ones
Accusing him of exchanging five original ₹2,000 currency notes with the ‘Children’s Bank of India’ notes, the Delhi Police have arrested a 27-year-old man who worked at an ATM cash loading company in connection with the fake notes that were dispensed by an SBI cash machine earlier this month.
The 27-year-old accused, Mohd Isha, had been employed with a logistics and cash management firm for over a year.
He was the custodian of the cash deposited in the SBI ATM in Sangam Vihar on the day these bogus notes were dispensed.
Romil Baaniya, DCP (SouthEast), alleged that their investiga- tion pointed towards Isha’s role in replacing the notes. “No one else had access to the notes that day. He removed five genuine notes and replaced them with the bogus notes, which are easily available in the market and are used by children for playing purposes,” Baaniya said.
Sources said the vehicle carrying the vault containing the notes had been taken to Deoli area in south Delhi for replenishing an ATM there before heading to Sangam Vihar. “He must have made the exchange in Deoli. He was the only person who could have meddled with the currency notes,” said an investigator.
The police have not recovered the allegedly stolen notes by Isha, a resident of Sangam Vihar and a graduate from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh. “We can’t say with certainty that the ₹2,000 notes currently in his possession are the stolen ones. Also, it has been a while since the crime happened, so he must have spent them,” explained the investigator.
Police said their probe revealed that the fake notes were available in many markets in Delhi for ₹40 for notes worth ₹2 lakh. “We need to ascertain from where he purchased the churan notes,” the officer said.
The notes, dispensed on February 6 from a SBI ATM installed in Tigri in Sangam Vihar, read ‘Children Bank of India’ in place of Reserve Bank of India and ‘Guaranteed by the Children’s Government’ in place of Guaranteed by the Central Government.
‘Churan lable’ in place of the latent image and a fake ‘PK’ logo instead of the bank’s seal, are among some of the other obvious deviations on the note.
A policeman who visited the victim at the ATM used his own card to withdraw a ₹2,000 note, but he was dished out a similar note after which a case was registered and the ATM was temporarily sealed.
The matter had come to light on February 6 when Rohit, a call centre employee, visited the SBI ATM to withdraw ₹8,000. When the notes were dispensed, Rohit noticed the deliberate mistakes on the notes like ‘promise to pay the bearer two thousand coupons’ and ’Serial number 000000’.