Sakleshpur police have arrested three members of a family from Bengaluru on charges of running a fake notes racket, and seized counterfeit notes with face value of Rs 5.72 lakh.
Superintendent of Police R Srinivas Gowda said, the arrested are Ajay, his wife G Shanthakumari, and son Thomas. Fake notes with denominations of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 200 have been seized along with Rs 1.52 lakh original currency. Computer, scanner, printer and other equipment used for the crime have also been seized, the SP said.
The family was nabbed when they purchased breakfast at a hotel near Sakleshpur with a fake note. The alert hotel owner informed the Sakleshpur police, who swung into action and arrested the trio.
During inquiry, the family confessed to being involved in printing fake notes during the lockdown period at their house in Bengaluru. The police seized fake notes from their house in Chamarajpet, Bengaluru.
The accused used to hire a car and visit other districts to circulate the fake notes by buying things at shops. The bank accounts of the accused have been blocked. A probe is on to find any network behind them and the amount of fake notes circulated so far, the SP said.
The SP lauded and also announced a cash prize for Sakleshpur Sub Inspector Bharathi Rayannagowda, ASI Rangaswamy and team for nabbing the accused.