Here’s how the Army and Pune police came together to bust the fake currency racket

Mubarak Ansari

Pune, June 11, 2020: A timely tip-off, cooperation from a bank, and to top it all, amazing teamwork by the Army and Pune police was what helped in the nabbing of a gang involved in fake currency racket on June 10 in Pune. 

When first tip-off about a gang involved in currency exchange was received by the Military Intelligence (MI) at the Pune-based Southern Command Liasion Unit (SCLU) of the Indian Army, they had no idea of the magnitude of the racket they will eventually help unearth. 

Meticulous planning and execution with the help of Pune City Police Crime Branch resulted in the arrest of six persons, including an Army Jawan of Bombay Sappers, and recovery of Rs 87.6 crores in fake Indian currency notes (FICN) and US Dollars.

Police officials said that the accused persons had rented the bungalow in Sanjay Park near Viman Nagar for the last one year and paid Rs 23,000 to Rs 27,000 rent per month. 

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), Bachchan Singh, told Punekarnews.in that, the quality of the notes will be checked in due course by experts. “Many of the notes are marked ‘Children Bank of India’. Prima facie their modus operandi seems to be cheating people using fake currencies. Further investigation is going on regarding source of currency etc,” he said.

DCP Singh added, “As per investigation till now, we have come to know that the accused used to send videos of the currency to gullible people having black money and make hawala deals, and cheat them by giving fake/token notes covered with few real notes. They seemed to have cheated a few people. Since the amount involved is huge, further investigation is going on to find the involvement of more people and the beneficiaries of the crime. We also request people who have been cheated by such methods to come forward and share details.”

How was the fake currency racket busted?

An MI officer received information about the currency exchange racket and suspicion of hawala racketeers being involved with the connivance of the anti-national elements. The officer went undercover as a prospective customer wanting to exchange money to check the information’s credibility.

Subsequently, top cops of Pune City Police including Commissioner of Police Dr K Venkatesham and Jt CP Ravindra Shisve were approached for a joint raid on June 9. 

Accordingly, under the supervision of Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ashok Morale and DCP (crime) Bachchan Singh, police officers and constables from Crime Branch Unit 4 led by Police Inspector Anjum Bagwan and Anti-Extortion Cell as well as Anti-Narcotics Cell (West Region) led by Police Inspector Rajendra Mohite were asked to execute the operation jointly with sleuths from the MI. 

On behalf of the police, a decoy customer contacted the accused person on phone and asked for US Dollars in exchange of Indian currency. The accused told the customer to meet in Pune on June 10 as they were in Mumbai. They had asked to see Rs 25 lakhs Indian currency as a token before taking the customer to the place where US Dollars were to be handed over. 

Arrangement of Rs 25 lakhs: Police Inspector Mohite got in contact with a bank and arranged for Rs 25 lakhs and two bank staffs as a witness. All was going as per plan and the Crime Branch sleuths were stationed in Range Hills area to move swiftly wherever the accused called the decoy customer. 

Cat and mouse game begins: When the decoy customer contacted on June 10 (Wednesday) morning, the racketeers asked to meet at Pune’s famous restaurant SP’s Biryani in Sadashiv Peth at noon. Inspector Mohite contacted the bank and called the two employees with Rs 25 lakh in cash to White House in Sadashiv Peth. Accompanied by decoy customer, panch witness, as well as officers from Southern Command Liaison Unit (SCLU), Inspector Mohite, Inspector Bagwan, PSI Sanjay Gaikwad, PSI Nileshkumar Mahadik and Head Constables Sunil Pawar, Ganesh Salunke, Vijay Gurav, Ramesh Garud, Police Naik Firoz Bagwan and Constables Mangesh Pawar, Praveen Padwal and Rupali Karnvar also reached near the White House. They used the government as well as private vehicles to avoid detection.

PSI Mahadik, an MI Southern Command Officer and the decoy customer went to SP’s Biryani with the cash while the remaining team waited at the White House. Four accused persons also reached outside SP’s Biryani soon in an Ertiga and two of them approached the decoy customer. They asked to see Rs 25 lakhs in cash and came to a vehicle where PSI Mahadik showed them the cash kept in a bag. The duo asked them to follow their vehicle to go to the place where the dollars are kept. 

Across the city for new currency: Inspectors Bagwan and Mohite were informed and the police team followed the racketeers, keeping a safe distance behind the decoy customer’s vehicle. Passing through Tilak Road, Shivajinagar, Sangamwadi and Gunjan Chowk in Yerwada, Old Airport Road, the vehicles suddenly stopped outside a bungalow on the road leading to Lane no. 2 and 3 in Sanjay Park, off Airport road.

One of the accused approached the customer and asked two persons to come inside the bungalow to check the dollars. The decoy customer and the MI officer went inside the bungalow and found huge piles of cash. The officer alerted PSI Mahadik who informed Inspectors Bagwan and Mohite. The police team swooped down on the bungalow around 1 pm.

Four accused persons were found in the hall – Naik Shaikh Alim Gulab Khan (36), a resident of Pratiknagar near Vishrantwadi, who is posted with Army’s Bombay Sappers establishment in Khadki, and civilians Ritesh Ratnakar (32) of Navi Mumbai, Tufail Ahmed Mohd Ishaq Khan (28), and Abdul Gani Rehmtullah Khan (43), both residents of Mira Road in Thane. Two others were in an adjacent room and have been identified as Sunil Badrinarayan Sarda (40) of Kondhwa and Abdul Rehman Abdul Gani Khan (19) of Mira Road in Thane.

Seizing the fake notes: The bank employees who accompanied the police team checked the currency notes and found that accused persons had kept original notes above the bundles of fake currency notes. A total of Rs 2.89 lakhs in original Indian and US Dollars were seized. They included 84 notes of Rs 2,000 denomination, 36 notes of Rs 500 denomination, 13 notes of Rs 1,000 denomination (which was demonetized in 2016), and 1,200 US Dollars. 

The seized fake currencies include 2,17,100 notes of Rs 2,000 denomination (Rs 43.42 crores face value), 1,52,000 notes of Rs 500 denomination (Rs 7.6 crores), 3,18,000 notes of Rs 1,000 denomination (Rs 31.8 crores), 5,65,000 US Dollars (Rs 4.2 crores). 

The counting of notes went on till 10 pm on Wednesday. Police also seized five mobile phones, one walkie talkie, one handheld metal detector, all worth Rs 38,000. After the raid, the cops returned Rs 25 lakhs back to the bank employees.

FIR registered: Based on a complaint from Police Sub-inspector Mahadik, an FIR has been registered against accused persons at Vimantal police station for offences under sections 489A, B, C (counterfeiting currency notes and using them as genuine), 120b (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The investigation is being done by Police Inspector Anjum Bagwan of Crime Branch unit 4. Today a judicial magistrate court remanded them to police custody till 15th June.

Profile of accused persons: Police said that the Army Jawan Alim who hails from Karnataka, is posted in Pune for several years. He is part of the band team at the Bombay Engineer and Group Centre (BEG&C) in Khadki. The other accused are agents dealing in real estate, land, etc. The soldier had come in contact Abdul Gani of Mira Road through a middleman. He had procured the fake notes and amassed them at the bungalow. As the other agents business was down due to the Coronavirus epidemic and lockdown, they were looking for an opportunity to earn easy money. They agreed to bring people looking to exchange currency notes. And during one such scouting for the customer, they landed in a trap.