A haul of fake Rs 2,000 currency notes with a total face value of Rs 10.20 lakh were recovered from Howrah-Hyderabad East Coast Express on Saturday and two persons were arrested, an official said.
“Acting on a tip-off, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officers intercepted two persons travelling in the East Coast Express running from Howrah to Hyderabad near Vizag and on search of their baggage, found them to be carrying fake Indian currency notes in five bundles. Total 510 pieces of fake Rs 2,000 denomination currency notes having face value of Rs 10.2 lakh were recovered from them,” an official said.
According to him, the fake notes were obtained from a person who allegedly brought them from Bangladesh and handed over to them at Farakka, which is few kilometres away from West Bengal’s Malda distrct, a known hub for fake notes circulation.
“Both the persons were booked and the accused, hailing from Bengaluru, stated that they intended to exchange the fake notes during the forthcoming elections in Karnataka. One of two accused has a criminal background,” the DRI official said.
Further investigation is underway, the official added.