Ahmedabad: Probe into Vatva murder leads to arrest of six men, seizure of Rs 29 lakh in fake notes

Ahmedabad: What began as a routine murder investigation in Vatva took a dramatic turn when police stumbled upon a massive counterfeiting racket early this week. Police have now seized nearly Rs 29 lakh in fake Rs 500 currency notes and arrested six individuals.

The six arrested individuals have been identified as Suraj Sahani, 20, of Narol; Vatva residents Ravikumar Shah, 23, Virendra Baghel, 25, and Chandramohan Sharma, 23; and a minor who has been detained. Additionally, police arrested Meraj Rabari, 49, from Banaskantha using technical intelligence.

The breakthrough occurred while the Zone-7 Local Crime Branch (LCB) was investigating the death of Imran Sindha. A search of Sindha’s flat at Satej Homes in Vatva uncovered a sophisticated setup of laptops, colour printers, and paper used to manufacture fake Indian currency, instantly sparking a parallel probe.

According to the police, Sindha, who has now been named the prime accused alongside members of his syndicate, had rented the premises in March. The network allegedly used the apartment as a mini-mint to print high-quality counterfeit Rs 500 notes destined for circulation in the open market. Investigators suspect the operation may have already pumped out fake notes amounting to approximately Rs 60 lakh.

Following the paper trail, joint teams from the LCB and Vatva police traced stashed materials to locations in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, and Dholpur, Rajasthan, ultimately recovering fake notes with a face value of Rs 28.95 lakh.