Coimbatore: Fake money worth Rs 38,000 seized

Coimbatore: The sleuths of the counterfeit currency wing of CB-CID on Monday arrested a 25-year-old youth and seized Rs 38,000 in fake currency notes in Coimbatore. Acting on a tip-off from a mobile shop owner, the police arrested Rajendra Tanti from Bihar. Police said that the youth had visited the mobile shop run by Peer Mohideen, 36 at Thyagi Kumaran street in Gandhipark and bought a mobile phone.

The accused gave Rs 1,000 to purchase the mobile. The shop owner, who suspected it to be a fake currency, had tipped off the sleuths of the counterfeit currency wing of CB-CID and took him to the cops by promising to get him better mobiles at a cheaper cost. Following investigation, a team of police led by CB-CID inspector G. Krishnamurthy and constables S. Kamalanathan and S. Velusamy seized a total of Rs 38,000 in fake currency in the denomination of Rs 1,000 from Rajendra Tanti.

“The fake notes appeared original. It is hard for any common man to differentiate the fakes from real currency,” said a cop. Investigations revealed that Rajendra Thandi had settled down in Venkitapuram and was working as a construction labourer. He told police that a group of people from Bihar to whom he was introduced during his journey back from his native place gave him the fake currency notes. They gave the fake currency to lure him to join them in the racket to earn money.

Police are now trying to find out the whereabouts of the men, who gave him the fake currency notes. The accused was booked under IPC section 489 B (using as genuine, forged or counterfeit currency notes or bank notes) and C (possession of forged or counterfeit currency notes) and had been sent to judicial custody.