Six held for counterfeit currency racket

Vadodara: The special operations group (SOG) of Vadodara police busted a fake currency racket, arresting six persons and seizing 85 counterfeit Rs 500 notes after a bank alerted police to forged currency deposited in an account late last month.The SOG cracked the case on Tuesday with the seizure of fake currency notes from multiple locations here. Sleuths said 85 counterfeit Rs 500 notes were recovered from the accused. Police said the investigation began after 20 fake Rs 500 notes were detected at HDFC Bank's Waghodia Road branch on April 29, deposited into the account of one Sagar Maru, a resident of Valsad. When police reached Maru's house, they found a large amount of cash. During questioning, Maru said the cash deposited in the bank had been given to him by a friend, Nisarg Patel. A search at Patel's house led to the recovery of 35 fake currency notes. Patel told police that he had got the counterfeits from an acquaintance, Dhanush Hallekari, who was also arrested. The SOG team recovered 50 fake notes from Hallekari. He revealed the involvement of Bhavesh Sharma and Tirth Likhiya in the racket, leading to their arrest. Police said Sharma and Likhiya told investigators that the fake currency had been procured from Akshay Goyal and Manohar Gujjar, both residents of Rajasthan. Goyal has been arrested, while Gujjar is absconding. Further investigation is underway to trace the source of the counterfeit notes.