Bhopal News: Fake Currency Racket Busted, Mastermind Arrested

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Khandwa police on Sunday busted an inter-district gang involved in printing and circulating counterfeit currency and arrested the mastermind Prateek Navalkhe along with his two accomplices here.

Police recovered fake currency worth Rs 25,000, nine mobile phones, one laptop, 32 ATM cards, 15 cheque books, a dryer machine and other equipment used in making fake currency notes.

Police officials said that the breakthrough was a sequel to an earlier operation on November 2, when the Jawar police raided the room of Maulana Zuber in Pethiya village after a tip-off. During the raid, police seized fake currency notes worth Rs 19.78 lakh along with printing machinery.

Superintendent of police, Khandwa, Manoj Kumar Rai formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by additional SP Mahendra Tarnekar. The SIT continued technical and on-ground inquiries, eventually identifying Prateek Navalkhe, a resident of Burhanpur, as the key supplier of counterfeit currency to Maulana Zuber.

During the investigation, police received information that the accused involved in the racket were hiding in a rented house in the Bagmugaliya area of Bhopal. The Jawar police team conducted a raid on Sunday and arrested three accused. They were identified as Prateek Navalkhe (43), Gopal alias Rahul (35) of Harda currently residing in Bagmugaliya and Dinesh Gore (43) of Amravati.

Police said that the investigation was still ongoing and further arrests may follow as the network behind the racket was uncovered.