The city police will interrogate Mohammed Rafiq, prime accused in the case related to the circulation of fake currency and gun-running, which came to light recently. He is currently serving a sentence in the Puzhal Central Prison in connection with another fake note case.
Based on the inputs from central intelligence agencies and Organised Crime Intelligence Unit (OCIU), the Vepery police on Friday arrested Pradeep, 27, of Tirumangalam and Kamal, 25, of Perambur, near the Tiruvottiyur Railway station. They jumped out of the Guwahati Express and tried to escape but were caught after a chase. Six pistols, 20 cartridges and counterfeit currency notes were seized from their backpacks.
The duo confessed that Rafiq was the brain behind the operation. Subsequently, the OCIU unit arrested police constable Parameswaran and his accomplices Siva and Nagaraj in Tiruchi besides seizing two pistols and cartridges. Based on their confession, two women were arrested in Chennai and fake currency notes seized from them.
A senior police officer said, “All of them were involved in circulation of fake notes and selling arms illegally. We will show the formal arrest of Mohammed Rafiq in this case, and later he and the other accused will be interrogated together. The currency notes seized from them were sent to RBI for analysis.”
According to sources, Parameswaran had confessed that Adhi from Krishnagiri had introduced to him a few persons in Mumbai, including Santhosh. Procuring guns and pistols from him, Parameswaran sold them to anti-social elements and unknown VIPs. Siva and Nagaraj, his relatives in Chennai, helped him strike deals with buyers in other cities.
They had bought illegal arms from Mumbai, Assam, Bihar and Jharkand.
“We were camping in Tiruchi to sell the guns. That is when Kamal and Pradeep led the police to us,” he confessed.
The police also suspect that Mohammed Rafiq was close to Zakir Hussain, a Sri Lankan national who was arrested on April 29, 2014. During interrogation, Hussain disclosed that apart from running a counterfeit currency racket, he was also part of the conspiracy to carry out attacks on Consulates. Hussain dealt in fake notes to generate funds for terror activities, the police said.
