Police on Tuesday busted two gangs in Vishakhapatnam dealing with fake and demonetised currencies and arrested 17 persons, incuding two women in this connection.
The police had received a complaint last week in Parawada about a gang of 14 people who had approached a local shopkeeper, asking him to exchange old demonetised notes and also offered him a commission.
According to the police, the complainant refused the deal but claimed he was threatened on gunpoint by the accused.
The police arrested 13 persons on Tuesday and recovered One crore ninety-seven thousand rupees of old currency from the spot from the accused. One gang member remains absconding.
In addition to the demonetized currency, a revolver with six fake rounds, a black SUV with fake police number plates, three walkie talkies were also recovered by the police.
In another case, police arrested four people including two women who were dealing in counterfeit currency. The complaint was registered in Muvvalavanipalem police station on August 18.
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According to the complainant, he was promised Rs 3 lakh worth of fake currency in exchange of Rs 1 lakh.
The accused, identified as, Kingumahanthi Padmavathi, Maddila Lakshmi, Madem Rajeswara Rao and Nethala Sivan Narayana were arrested by the police on Tuesday.
Police have recovered more than one lakh in cash, Rs ninety-nine thousand worth old demonetized notes, paper-cutting machine, counting machine, 9 black paper bundles, eight cell phones and three types of chemicals.
The accused have a history of committing crimes of this nature and the two women -- Padmavathi and Lakshmi-- are sisters and they were also arrested in a similar case in 2014.
Police have registered a case against the accused in both cases and further investigation is underway.
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