Keeping the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections in mind, Mumbai Police have achieved a major breakthrough by arresting a woman accused in a fake currency racket who had been absconding. The accused was nabbed near the Bangladesh border in Jharkhand, in connection with a fake currency seizure made near Dadar Railway Station last week.
Last week, Shivaji Park Police of Mumbai arrested one Amaruddin Sheikh (61) near Dadar Railway Station with high-quality counterfeit currency notes. Fake notes worth Rs 72,000, all in Rs 500 denominations, were recovered from his possession. Preliminary investigation revealed that the counterfeit notes were of very high quality and were suspected to have been smuggled into India from Bangladesh.
During interrogation, it was revealed that Amaruddin Sheikh had earlier circulated counterfeit currency worth several thousand rupees in the market. Police are now investigating the areas where the fake notes were circulated and the channels through which they were distributed.
In the same case, a woman accused who had been on the run was being traced and was finally arrested on Tuesday from near the Bangladesh border in Sahibganj district of Jharkhand, with the assistance of Radhanagar Police Station. The arrested woman has been identified as Josna Bibi alias Josna Serajul Sheikh (49).
Police investigation has revealed that the woman supplied fake currency to Amaruddin Sheikh and several others. She allegedly provided Rs 1 lakh in counterfeit notes in exchange for Rs 60,000 in genuine currency. It is suspected that she was smuggling the fake notes from Bangladesh into India.
The accused woman had been actively involved in the illegal trade for the past two years, and it is estimated that she circulated counterfeit currency worth Rs 12 to Rs 14 lakh in India during this period.
Mumbai Police are currently working to trace all links of the counterfeit currency network, and further investigation is underway.