Catch me if you can

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Cops bust fake currency racket, criminals sentenced to life imprisonment</span><br /><br />Mohammed Farooq Chaiwala thought he was too smart to be outwitted. So before circulating fake notes in the market he decided to double check. He asked for a change of a Rs 100 fake note. But unwittingly, he approached a cop in civil uniform. His over smartness not only landed him in trouble but six of his accomplices are now cooling their heels behind bars with him. The seven were recently sentenced to life imprisonment by Additional Sessions Judge A Z Telgote.<br /><br />According to Senior Police Inspector Ashok Desai, the investigating officer, when the incident took place, Chaiwala possessed Rs 10,000 worth fake currency — in Rs 100 denomination. <br /><br />Desai explained that before taking the fake notes to the market for circulating, Chaiwala decided to do a test check. On reaching the taxi stand of the CST railway station, he approached assistant sub inspector Prakash Thakur and asked for a change of Rs 100. He approached assistant sub inspector Prakash Thakur and asked for a change of Rs 100. Thakur who was in civil uniform gave two notes of Rs 50 as change. However, he soon suspected that the Rs 100 note was fake as there was no water mark on it, says Desai. Thakur immediately approached Desai who was his senior officer. <br /><br />The cops launched a hunt for Chaiwala who was caught in the same vicinity. His arrest led the cops to the gang. <br /><br />The police arrested Umar Macchiwala, Maqsood Girnari, Sirajuddin Karim, Ashraf Qadar Shaikh, Mohammed Majid Mannu and Mohammed Mujid Mohammed. The gang was planning to circulate fake currency notes in the city. The police also picked up Faijul Poikunda, Usman Sunni and Hashish Sunni who had printed the fake currency in Kerala. However, the three absconded after they were released on bail.<br /><br />Apart from fake Indian currency, the cops had also recovered fake US dollar and Saudi Riyals from them. The value of the seized currency and machine which was used to print fake notes, was about Rs 4.50 lakh.<br />manish.pachouly@timesgroup.com</div> </div>