Web series 'Farzi'-inspired fake currency racket busted, 5 held
Noida (PTI): Noida Police on Tuesday said it has busted a fake currency racket here with the arrest of five people and seized counterfeit notes of the face value of around Rs 6.50 lakh ahead of local body polls in Uttar Pradesh.
According to police, the gang members were inspired by the popular web series 'Farzi' and used Instagram to connect with their network spread across Delhi-NCR, and parts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Additional DCP (Noida) Shakti Avasthy said the arrest has been made by officials of Sector 24 police station and the recovered banknotes include forged notes of denominations 2000, 500 and 200.
"The five people arrested are Faiz Khan, Shibu Khan, Aditya Gupta, Ayush Gupta and Hari Om Atri. They had a chain of network to supply fake notes. They got double the number of fake notes like Rs 200 in fake notes for Rs 100 real currency and the profit margin increased up to four times as one went higher up in the supply chain," Avasthy told reporters.
"Three men were wanted in connection with the case. One of them has been identified as 'Singhania', who lives in Chhapra district of Bihar, and printed these notes, the other is 'Bhola', who stays in Delhi and the third goes by the name of 'Mobin' in Lucknow," the officer said.
The police said the accused used WhatsApp with virtual phone numbers to evade tracking.
"They also used Instagram for networking and made reels related to fake currencies. They got in touch with their clients through comments on YouTube videos. They were also inspired by a web series which was released two to three months ago," Avasthy said.
Of those held, Shibu had been working in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, while Faiz was in Kuwait until recently, the police said. The police said the fake notes were being procured from "Singhania" in Bihar and "Bhola" in Delhi. Both of them were printing the fake notes, police said.
The main accused, Faiz Khan, lived in Kuwait and ran his business in Bihar, Lucknow, Noida, Jaipur and the Delhi NCR region, police officials said.
An FIR has been lodged under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating) and provisions pertaining to counterfeit Indian currency notes, they added.
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.
Conspiracy afoot to 'tarnish' image of Dharmasthala: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Aug 14 (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said there was a “conspiracy” to tarnish the image of Dharmasthala.
His comments come amid an ongoing investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into serious allegations of mass burials in the revered temple town in Dakshina Kannada district.
“A conspiracy is being hatched to destroy hundreds of years of legacy. It is not correct to tarnish someone just like that. It has all happened due to one complainant,” he said.
Noting that some Congress MLAs have called for action against those involved in the slander campaign at the legislature party meeting, he said, “ I have told them that action must be taken against those who are indulging in a slander campaign. The CM has also said that action must be taken against such people.”
“I have information on this case. Religious feelings should not be hurt in any manner. Culprits must be punished,” he told reporters, according to a release from his office.
Responding to a question, Shivakumar said the Congress party will not allow the image of any religious place to be tarnished.
“We see everyone equally when it comes to religion,” he added.
The SIT, formed by the state government, is probing claims of mass murder, rape, and mass burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.
The complainant, a former sanitation worker whose identity has not been revealed, alleged that between 1995 and 2014 he was forced to handle bodies—including women and minors—and that some showed signs of sexual assault. He has given a statement before a magistrate.
As part of the probe, the SIT has been conducting exhumations at multiple locations identified by the complainant-witness in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains have been found at two sites so far.
