The Delhi Police claimed to have dismantled a fake foreign currency racket with the arrest of two Uzbek nationals who were allegedly involved in the circulation of counterfeit US Dollars.
The arrest of the accused, identified as Mirodial Umarov (30) and Farrukh Rasulov (33), was made by a team from the Connaught Place Police Station, a police official said on Saturday.
The two foreign nationals were found by the owner of Easy Forex, Kapil Kumar, targeting money changers when he noticed their suspicious behaviour, the police said.
The duo approached him at his shop seeking to exchange bills in the 100 US Dollar denomination with Indian rupees. After a closer inspection, Kumar alerted a police patrolling team suspecting the authenticity of the notes. In a swift response, the police personnel apprehended the duo before they could flee the spot.
During an inquiry, it was revealed that both are residents of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. A significant amount of counterfeit US currency, amounting to a total of 12,000 US Dollars in the denomination of 100 Dollar bills was found in their possession.
The probe revealed extensive forgery and a case under appropriate sections of law was registered on Thursday at Police Station Connaught Place.
The probe also revealed that they had arrived in India on April 15 and were residing at a hotel in Paharganj.
Further, the accused confessed to their involvement in successfully exchanging counterfeit US $7000 for Rs 5,80,000 from another money changer on April 16.
Both the accused were presented before the court and remanded to police custody, the police said, adding that the Embassy of Uzbekistan in New Delhi has been notified of the arrests.
The total recovery made so far in this regard includes 12,000 US Dollars in counterfeit denominations of 100 Dollar bills, three mobile phones, three passports, five debit cards of an Uzbekistan bank, two Uzbekistani SIM cards, two Uzbekistani driving licenses, and Rs 4.5 lakh in cash, the police said.