Urul sarpanch & four others arrested in fake currency case

Kolhapur: Five people, including a village sarpanch, were arrested on Friday night following a raid at Urul village in Patan taluka, which led to the seizure of 17 counterfeit Rs 500 denomination notes with a face value of Rs 8,500.The Malharpeth police in Satara district identified the arrested accused as Urul sarpanch Rajendra Thorat (42), Nitin Nikam (47) of Urul, Manoj Nikam (36) of Ichalkaranji, Gauspak Jamadar (39) of Hatkanangle and Ashutosh Raut of Shirol.Sub-inspector Sonam Naik of the Malharpeth police said assistant inspector Hemantkumar Katkar received a tip-off about counterfeit currency at the residence of Thorat in Urul.

“Acting on the information, a police team conducted a search of the house in the presence of two panch witnesses. During the search, we inspected an iron cupboard locker in a bedroom and recovered 17 fake Indian currency notes of Rs 500 denomination with a face value of Rs 8,500,” the officer said.Naik said during questioning, the accused admitted that they were in possession of the counterfeit notes with the intention of circulating them in the market. The police also seized a car during the operation.The police have formed two teams to trace the source of the counterfeit currency, identify those involved in its production and distribution, and uncover any wider network linked to the racket.