A special squad from Feroke police station has stepped up an investigation into a suspected counterfeit currency network after nabbing five youngsters, including two undergraduate students in history and nursing, for allegedly circulating fake ₹500 notes in the district.
The suspects — K. Dijin,19, C. Athul Krishna, 19, Amjad Shah,20, T. Afnan, 20 and K. Sarang, 20 — were arrested from Kozhikode and Malappuram districts on November 15 with 57 counterfeit currency notes in the denomination of ₹500.
The police, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police A.M. Siddique and Inspector T.S. Sreejith, were also able to recover a printer and 30 paper sheets procured for printing purposes during a flash inspection at the house of Dijin at Ramanattukara.
Although Sarang, a painting worker and Afnan, a history undergraduate student, reportedly admitted to initiating the illegal printing activity recently “as an experiment,” the investigators said they were yet to be convinced by the explanation. Preliminary findings suggested that the group might have received assistance from experienced gangs in the field and attempted to circulate counterfeit notes to more local residents in Ramanattukara, they said.
