Indore, Apr 15 (PTI) Police on Tuesday seized counterfeit currency notes with a face value of more than Rs 4 lakh and arrested five persons from different cities in Madhya Pradesh in this connection, an official said in Indore.

All five were members of a criminal gang involved in printing and circulating fake currency notes in the state, police said.

Talking to reporters, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rajesh Kumar Tripathi said three of the accused were apprehended from a hotel in Indore’s Anurag Nagar Extension area after cops received a tip-off about their presence., The trio, Abdul Shoaib alias Chhotu (25), Rahees Khan (32) and Prafull Kumar Kori (19), hailed from Chhindwara district, he said.

“In the hotel room where the accused were staying, we found 100 bogus notes of Rs 500 denomination each along with several equipment used for printing fake currency. These included butter paper, printer, wooden frame, lamination machine and a laptop,” the DCP said.

Based on the clues provided by the trio during their interrogation, two of their accomplices — Akash Ghaaru (30) and Shankar Chaurasia (42) — were nabbed from Bhopal. As many as 770 fake notes of Rs 500 denomination each were recovered from their possession, Tripathi informed.

In all, counterfeit currency notes with a face value of Rs 4.35 lakh were seized from the gang members, police said.

“The accused had contacted each other on Facebook. Three accused living in Chhindwara used to print fake notes, which were circulated in the market through their two associates residing in Bhopal,” Tripathi informed.

A detailed investigation into the activities of the gang was underway, he added. PTI HWP ADU RSY