Delhi: Counterfeit Rs 20 coin racket busted, 4 held; coins worth Rs 1 lakh seized

The Delhi Police busted a counterfeit coin manufacturing and supply racket with the arrest of four people, including the alleged kingpin, and recovered fake Rs 20 coins worth around Rs 1 lakh, an officer said on Sunday.

The crime branch carried out an operation following a tip-off that a man would deliver counterfeit coins near Mundka Industrial Area Metro Station on September 8.

A police team intercepted a car driven by Paras Jain (45) and recovered Rs 5,000 counterfeit Rs 20 coins packed in 50 polythene pouches from a bag on the rear seat, police said.

“The coins had a total face value of Rs 1 lakh. An iPhone, a laptop bag and the vehicle allegedly used for transporting the consignment were also seized,” a senior police officer said.

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During interrogation, Jain disclosed that he procured the counterfeit coins from Upkar Luthra alias Abhay Pratap Singh (58), who allegedly supplied them for around Rs 70,000 against their face value of Rs 1 lakh, for further circulation in the market.

Further investigation revealed that Luthra was allegedly shifting his manufacturing unit from Sonipat in Haryana to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh following Jain’s arrest, police said.

“Luthra and his associates were subsequently apprehended by the Saharanpur police’s Special Operations Group while shifting the unit,” the officer said.

After obtaining production warrants, five accused were brought from Saharanpur Jail and produced before a court in Delhi. Following interrogation, Luthra, Anurag Pal alias Lankesh and Janardan Kumar Chaurasia alias Santosh were formally arrested in the case.

Two other accused, Kuldeep and Himanshu alias Gullu, were also interrogated, but their involvement was not established prima facie, police said.

A case was registered at the crime branch police station.

All four arrested accused are currently in judicial custody, and further investigation is underway to identify other members of the network.