Thane (Maha), Oct 12: Fake currency notes with a face value of over Rs 4 lakh were recovered from a vehicle near Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra and five persons were arrested in this connection, police said Friday.

The action was taken on Thursday based on a tip-off, police said.

"Acting on a tip-off that some people carrying fake notes were coming to a pan shop at Wadpe, the police patrol team laid a trap and arrested the accused when they were buying cigarettes using fake notes," a police officer said.

Total 203 fake notes of Rs 2,000 denomination were recovered from the car.

The five accused were identified as Rehan Abbas Shaikh (22), Safad Mukhtar Ansari (19), Anees Iqbal Shaikh (31), Kishore Phular (25) and Rohit Singh (23), police said.

The police are trying to find out the source of the fake notes and where they were being transported.

The five accused were booked under IPC sections 489 (B) (using as genuine, forged or counterfeit currency-notes or bank-notes), 489 (C) (possession of forged or counterfeit currency-notes or bank-notes) and 34 (common intention). PTI CORR

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



New Delhi (PTI): With a new, stringent system to establish user identity, the number of new user IDs being added daily on the IRCTC website has declined to about 5,000 from nearly one lakh, officials said on Saturday.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw noted that the crackdown by Indian Railways on train ticket booking through fake identities is yielding positive results, according to a press note.

Before the latest reforms, this number had touched nearly one lakh new user IDs per day, it said.

"Following the introduction of a stringent system to establish user identity and detect fake IDs, about 5,000 new user IDs are now being added daily on the IRCTC website," the note said.

The officials stated that these steps have already helped Indian Railways deactivate 3.03 crore fake accounts.

"Another 2.7 crore user IDs have either been temporarily suspended or identified for suspension based on the suspicious activities they are indulging in," they said.

The Union minister directed officials to ensure that the ticketing system is reformed to a level where all travellers are able to book tickets easily through a real and genuine user ID, the press note added.

Additionally, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed officials to provide local cuisine of the region in Vande Bharat trains.

Introducing local cuisine that reflects the culture and tastes of the regions being traversed will significantly enhance the passenger experience, officials said.

This facility will be expanded to all the trains progressively in future, they added.