Mumbai-based politician, developer arrested in connection with fake currency racket
Alimchandani would get 5% commission for circulating the fake currency notes (Representational Image. Courtesy: India.com)
A Congress politician and a real estate developer are among three persons arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Mumbai in connection with a fake currency racket.
According to a TOI report, the arrested persons have been identified as general secretary of North Central Mumbai District Congress Committee Haji Imran Sheikh, his uncle Zahid Sheikh and real estate developer Mahesh Alimchandani.
DRI officials seized fake Rs 500 notes worth Rs 9 lakh from Haji, who was supposed to deliver them to someone at Bandra-Kurla Complex.
The notes, believed to have been smuggled from Bangladesh, reportedly differed from the original ones in two main aspects – they were printed in a lighter ink and their security thread lacked two-dimensional colour.
Alimchandani had ‘sold’ notes worth Rs 9 lakh to Haji and his uncle for Rs 4.5 lakh, half their face value.
“Both of them were interrogated and a search was carried out in their houses but nothing was found. However, during interrogation, they spilled the beans on each other and said that they used to get the notes from Alimchandani,” a source told the daily.
Following which, officials arrested Alimchandani from Deccan Co-operative Housing Society in Khar.
In custody, he confessed that he would receive 5 percent of the total amount as commission for circulating the fake Rs 500 notes. He also admitted to having circulated fake notes worth Rs 10 lakh earlier.
Meanwhile, DRI is also in the process of taking custody of Shivaji Khedekar, a Pune-based businessman who allegedly supplied the fake currency to Alimchandani and was arrested in connection with a similar case in Ahmednagar.
