Gang of eight arrested for printing and circulating counterfeit ₹500 notes

A gang of eight members involved in printing and circulating fake Indian currency was arrested by the Mehdipatnam Police in a joint operation with the Commissioner’s Task Force, South West Zone.

Police seized counterfeit ₹500 denomination notes worth ₹4.75 lakh, a hatchback four-wheeler, three two-wheelers, and nine mobile phones during a raid conducted at Eidgah Grounds, First Lancer, on November 12. The accused have been identified as Kasthuri Ramesh Babu, 35, the alleged mastermind, along with Abdul Waheed, 21, Mohd Abdul Khader alias Taha, 21, Mohd Sohail, 21, Mohd Fahad, 23, Shaik Imran, 23, Omer Khan, 23, and Syed Altamash Ahmed, 21, all residents of Hyderabad.

An officer from the task force said that Ramesh Babu, a car mechanic from Tandur, had earlier been arrested in similar fake currency cases by Rajkot, Chandrayangutta, and Gopalpuram police.

Investigations revealed that Ramesh, with help from his sister K. Rameshwari, was printing fake ₹500 notes at his residence in Tandur. The duo scanned genuine notes, edited them on a software for accurate dimensions, and printed them. “They used green gift wrap paper to imitate the security thread, pasted it on the counterfeit notes with adhesive, dried them using a heat gun, and packed them into bundles resembling genuine currency,” explained the officer.

Police found that Ramesh had posted a video on Instagram, sharing his phone number to attract buyers.

The gang operated through a layered distribution system: Ramesh supplied counterfeit notes to Waheed and Taha on a 1:4 ratio, who then passed them to Sohail and Fahad at a 1:3 ratio. The notes were further circulated by Imran and Omer on a 1:2 ratio, with Altamash being the final point of exchange.

All eight accused were arrested on November 12 and produced before court. Officials said further arrests are likely as efforts continue to identify others connected to the counterfeit racket.