Fake currency notes of around Rs 9 crore were seized at Dhamakhali ferry-ghat by police on Friday night. Two persons Debobrata Chakraborty and Sirajuddin Molla were arrested in connection with the incident.
According to police sources in North 24-Parganas, the accused had a plan to organise a major crime in West Bengal using the fake currencies.
Sirajuddin, a resident of Jibantala police station area in South 24-Parganas, and Debobrata hailed from Maheshtala in the same district, had assembled at the Dhamakhali ferry-ghat on Friday night.
An owner of a local shop challenged them first when they were buying something there, giving him Indian currency notes. He was alarmed after seeing the notes and found them to be fake.
He informed the Sandeshkhali police station, urging policemen on duty to reach his shop as soon as possible.
First, they boarded into a local guest house before going to buy something from the shop.
Police rushed to the spot and verified the notes given to the shop owner thoroughly. Later, in the night, police took Sirajuddin and Debobrata to the Sandeshkhali police station close to India-Bangladesh border and interrogated them throughout the night.
Police seized huge fake currency notes kept in bags from them and arrested them. Police produced them before the court on Saturday seeking their police custody for thorough interrogations.
Police officials investigating the case suspected that they might have plans to organise a major operation in Kolkata and somewhere in the state first and then flee to Bangladesh.
Besides the seizure of such a huge amount of fake notes, police have also seized two Aadhaar cards from Sirajuddin, Nepali coins and punching machines used to punch the bundles of currency notes.
An investigating official of the Sandeshkhali police station said: “We require marathon interrogations of the two accused after taking them into our custody. Our focus is to find out about their motive behind carrying such a huge amount of fake notes, whether they have any plan to conduct any operation and any racket involving the two.”
“Preliminary investigations revealed that they might have regular links with international rackets. It will be cleared soon,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
Some bordering districts in the state are virtual hubs of fake notes in the country because of good rail, road connectivity, proximity to the Bangladesh border and rising fundamentalism.