The Crime Branch of Gujarat Police has arrested five people here and seized fake Indian currency notes with face value of over Rs 1 crore from their possession, an official said on Sunday.
According to the police, the accused have been identified as Prateek Dilipbai Chowariya, Praveen Chopra, Kadu Chopra, Mohan Madhav and a priest named Radha Raman Swami.
"Based on reliable information, the Crime Branch arrested Prateek Dilipbai Chowariya and recovered fake currency notes with face value of Rs 4 lakh. During interrogation, Chowariya revealed that he, along with some others, had printed fake currency notes with face value of Rs 1 crore," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rahul Patel said.
He said that the police further investigated the matter and busted the entire racket before they could circulate the money in the market.
"Praveen Chopra, Kadu Chopra and Mohan Madhav were also arrested with fake currency with face value of Rs 19, 15 and 12 lakh respectively from Surat," the DCP said.
Patel said that the accused revealed that they had printed the currency at a house in a Kheda village.
"A temple priest Radha Raman Swami was also arrested from the village with fake currency of Rs 50 lakh. The machine used for printing the fake currency has also been recovered," he said.
Police said that one of the accused, Praveen has been a habitual offender in such cases and has been caught over eight to nine times by the police.
( With inputs from ANI )