Odisha police have arrested one person and seized counterfeit currency notes with a face value of ₹10,000 after a foiled attempt to circulate fake notes in the Bhadrak district. The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon when two youths tried to use the counterfeit currency to make purchases at Anand Bazaar, under the Bhadrak rural police station limits.
The suspicious activity came to light when one of the suspects attempted to exchange a ₹200 note at a local grocery store. The shopkeeper, Utkalmani Panda, became immediately suspicious upon feeling the texture and noticing the poor print quality of the note. “I sensed something was wrong when I touched the note. I showed it to other shopkeepers nearby, and we quickly realized it was a fake one,” Panda said.
When confronted, one of the suspects fled the scene, but the other was caught by local residents and handed over to the police. The Bhadrak rural police conducted a search and recovered a total of ₹10,000 in counterfeit notes, including ₹100, ₹200, and ₹500 denominations.
Police suspect that the accused were targeting small shops, where detection of fake currency is often harder. “Preliminary investigations suggest that the individuals were deliberately focusing on small vendors to pass off counterfeit money,” said a police officer. Authorities are also considering the possibility that the arrested individual is part of a larger counterfeit currency network.
The police have registered a case, and the seized notes have been sent for forensic examination. Meanwhile, efforts are underway to track down the second suspect who escaped the scene. A manhunt has been launched to uncover the full extent of the counterfeit currency racket.
Inspector-in-charge Dayanidhi Das of Bhadrak rural police station confirmed, “We are investigating the incident thoroughly and will continue working to uncover the network involved in this illegal activity.”
Sources By Agencies
