Keonjhar (Orissa), September 05: Police today claimed to have unearthed an inter-state counterfeit currency racket with the arrest of five persons and seizure of fake notes with the face value of Rs 76,000 in Keonjhar district of Orissa.
Fake notes of Rs 500 denomination, two motorbikes and a mobile phone were seized from the arrested men during a raid near the Harichandanpur railway station, police said.
The modus operandi of the five-member gang, with criminal antecedents, was to circulate the counterfeit currency notes in weekly markets and cattle markets, particularly located in tribal-dominated areas, they said.
The five have been identified as Bidur Mallick, Phalguni Mallick and Jhanthu Mallick of Belebeda village of West Midnapore district in West Bengal, Premchand Birua alias Paresh of Hadusahi village of West Singhbhumi district of Jharkhand and Sibashankar Parida of Karanjia of nearby Mayurbhanj district.
–Agencies