Fake currency factory busted in Surat; four held

A fake currency manufacturing unit operating in the office of an online garment store was busted in Gujarat’s Surat city, and four persons were arrested, police said on Sunday (September 22, 2024).

Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajdeep Nakum said the accused were allegedly inspired by the web series “Farzi”, starring actor Shahid Kapoor, which shows a small-time con artist who gets rich by counterfeiting currency notes.

Surat Special Operations Group (SOG) officials raided the office in the Sarthana locality on Saturday (September 22, 2024) and arrested three persons with “high quality” counterfeit currency with a face value of ₹1.20 lakh, a police release stated. “The fourth accused was arrested later,” it said.

The accused persons had rented office space in a commercial building in the guise of running an online garment business but were allegedly printing fake currency on the premises, the release stated.

“The SOG team kept a close watch on the office and people working there and conducted the raid when the three accused met to print fake currency notes there,” it said.

“Acting on a confirmed input, the police team raided the office and apprehended Rahul Chauhan, Pavan Banode, and Bhavesh Rathod, and busted a mini factory of fake currency notes,” the release said.

“They recovered Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) with a face value of ₹1.20 lakh and printing equipment such as foil paper, colour printers, printing ink, a lamination machine, etc,” it stated.