Srinagar: Police Tuesday claimed to have busted a major fake currency racket with the arrest of 12 persons, including the kingpin and recovered counterfeit currency notes with a face value of Rs 8.85 lakh from them here.
After getting a tip off, police arrested the key operator Arshad Ahmad Kaloo, Superintendent of Police, East, Harmeet Singh said.
Kaloo, a resident of Nehru Park locality of the city, was arrested from Badyari chowk and his questioning led to the arrest of the kingpin of the racket Masood Ul Haq, a resident of Khawaja Bagh area of Baramulla district, he said.
“Haq used to operate the racket from various areas of Srinagar city and other towns of the valley,” the officer said adding so far 12 persons running the racket were arrested along with counterfeit currency notes with a face value of Rs 8,25,000.
Singh said investigation of the case was going on and more arrests and recovery of fake currency are expected.
The officer said Kaloo was carrying fake currency worth Rs 3,500 at the time of his arrest and also revealed that he had  deposited some fake currency notes in Punjab National Bank Boulevard Branch and fake currency worth Rs 60,000 at Cash Deposit Machine (CDM)of SBI Residency Road here.
“A case has been registered at Kothibagh police station in this connection,” he said.

KR Desk