With the arrest of four persons, including steno of a Supreme Court lawyer, local police today claimed to have busted a racket involved in printing and circulation of counterfeit currencies here.
Police, who were on the trail of the accused for some time, seized fake currency with a face value of Rs 1.75 lakh, packed in 8 plastic bags from them when they arrived near a hotel in Lokmanya Tilak nagar area in wee hours.
"The accused were identified as Avinash Borse (22), who is suspected to be the kingpin of the gang, besides Sushant Jamble (22), Rajesh Shaymkisandas Dabla (32) and Suresh Kanara (21)," said Inspector P N Ghuge of Vartak Nagar police station.
Police also seized some laptops, printers, a scanner and sheets bearing the watermark of a Rs 100 currency note.
"Of the four accused, Rajesh Dabla hails from Delhi and works as a steno with a Supreme Court lawyer there. He often shuttles between Mumbai and Delhi," Ghuge said.
According to the police, Avinash, who hails from Dhule in the northern Maharashtra, is the kingpin of the racket and runs a xerox shop while Suresh Kanara is his associate.
The other accused Suresh Jamble works as a mechanic here, he said.
"According to initial investigation, the trio took the help of Dabla in the circulation of fake currency notes," police said, adding that they have directed their investigations to find out the links of the accused and if any more persons involved.
The accused have been booked under Sections 489 (tampering with property mark with intent to cause injury), 420 (dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and other relevant sections of IPC, Ghuge said.
