KOCHI: A joint team of Udayamperoor police and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Kerala police seized fake currency of Rs 1.8 crore from Coimbatore and arrested five accused. The seizure was made in an operation which began on Wednesday late night and continued through the early hours of Thursday.
According to police, follow-up investigation into the seizure of Rs 1.74 lakh of fake currency in Udayamperoor near here on March 27 led the cops to the Coimbatore gang.
City police commissioner Nagaraju Chakilam said that the inputs from DIG Anup Kuruvila John who heads the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the state police was instrumental in the operation.
The arrested persons were identified as Rasheed from Thrissur and Syed Sultan and Ashraf Ali from Coimbatore. Two more persons, it was learnt, were arrested in the early hours as well. Police have also seized scanners and printers from the accused. The seized fake currencies were in the denomination of Rs 2,000.
Udayamperoor police had arrested two persons with fake currency worth Rs 1.74 lakh in March. The seized currencies were in the denomination of Rs 2,000 back then as well. Two persons, who were identified as Priyankumar KK (36) of Irumbanam in Tripunithura and Dhanya (38) of Karunagappilly were arrested then. Accused Priyankumar had then given a statement to police that he obtained the fake currency from Coimbatore.