A large international gang dealing in counterfeit currency has been busted in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar city. Ten people, including Samajwadi Party leaders, were arrested for smuggling fake currency notes. Currently, the police have begun investigating the entire incident. It is understood that Samajwadi Party national secretary Rafi Khan (alias Bablu) is the mastermind of the gang. Rafi Khan has a counterfeit currency business network in northern Nepal-Bihar and border areas.
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4 people are still at large
Among the 10 accused arrested, Naushad Khan is also said to be the vice-chairman of the Samajwadi Party’s cultural cell. All the 10 arrested accused were identified as Aurangzeb, Mohammad Rafi, Noshad Khan, Parvez Elahi alias Kausal Afridi, Sheikh Ja Maruddin, Niyazuddin Munnar, Rehan Khan alias Saddam, Muhammad Rafiq alias Bablu Khan, Hashim Khan and Siraj Hashmati Sri Lanka.
Giving information about the case, police said that four people including Jitendra Yadav, a resident of Sivan in Bihar, and Manish Kumar and Kamaruddin of Gopalganj are still absconding. The arrested accused are being interrogated with a view to arresting the absconding accused. The absconding accused will also be arrested soon, police said.
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562,000 counterfeit banknotes were also seized
According to police, the counterfeit currency business is being run in Nepal with the help of scanners and printers and with the support of Samajwadi Party national secretary Mohammad Rafique Khan alias Bablu.
The police seized counterfeit notes of Rs 5.62 lakh, genuine notes of Rs 1.10,000 and Nepal currency 3,000, along with 10 country-made pistols, 4 sutri bombs, 2 Nepali SIM cards and 26 SIM cards purchased. False documents.
