India News | UP STF Arrests Man Involved in Smuggling Indian Fake Currency

Lucknow, Dec 9 (PTI) The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested the kingpin of an international gang involved in smuggling Indian counterfeit currency from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, sources said on Thursday.

The man was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his arrest, they said.

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Deepak Mandal, a resident of West Bengal, was arrested from near Gandhi Park in the Fort police station area in Thiruvananthapuram late on Wednesday night, the STF sources said here.

A mobile phone, an Aadhar card and Rs 730 cash were seized from his possession, they said.

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The STF team had tried to apprehend Mandal from Malda in West Bengal but he fled to Thiruvananthapuram. The team followed him and arrested him there, the sources said.

During interrogation, Mandal told the STF that he was involved in smuggling of Indian counterfeit currency internationally for almost 14 years, they said.

In the initial days, he used to supply fake notes of Rs1 lakh in lieu of original currency worth Rs 40,000 to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab and Kerala from West Bengal. Now he supplies Indian counterfeit currency from Bangladesh by water route as per requirement, the sources said.

Mandal further revealed that in 2013, the Uttar Pradesh STF had arrested him in Allahabad and seized Indian counterfeit currency of about Rs 3 lakh from him. After his release from the jail, he continued his illegal work and in 2018, he was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police, they said.

The STF sources said Mandal is being brought to the state on a five-day transit remand after being produced before a court in Thiruvananthapuram.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)