Delhi: 4 arrested for allegedly minting counterfeit coins

A 58-year-old resident of Punjab’s Zirakpur and his three associates were arrested for allegedly minting counterfeit coins of ₹20 denomination in an illegal factory in Haryana and circulating them in Indian markets, the Delhi Police crime branch said on Friday.

Counterfeit ₹20 coins worth around ₹1 lakh were recovered from one of them, identified as Paras Jain, 45, after he was arrested from near Mundka Industrial Area Metro station in outer Delhi, where he had come to deliver the consignment of fake coins to a contact last month, two senior crime branch officers said..

Alleged role of Upkar Luthra

Among the four, the 58-year-old Punjab resident Upkar Luthra, emerged as the alleged key player of the illegal business of manufacturing counterfeit Indian coins and supplying them to his contacts in various states at nearly half the value of each coin. Luthra had been allegedly running the syndicate for over two decades in alleged association with his brother, Sweekar. Both had been arrested in the past by the Delhi Police, said one of the officers.

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“Luthra was last arrested in 2017 by the Delhi Police special cell from Haryana’s Sonepat with around 8,500 counterfeit coins in denominations of ₹5 and ₹10. Before his arrest, he had been running the syndicate from Nepal. He was also allegedly involved in the murder of his business partner,” added the officer.

Police investigation and coin seizure

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (crime) Harsh Indora said that on September 8, the crime branch’s western range team led by assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Raj Kumar caught Paras Jain when he arrived near Mundka Industrial Area Metro station in a car to deliver a consignment of fake coins.

“A black laptop bag and plastic sacks containing 50 polythene pouches, each containing 100 counterfeit ₹20 coins, were recovered from the rear seat of the car. The total face value of the recovered counterfeit coins was around ₹1,00,000. Samples were sealed and the remaining coins, bag and the vehicle were seized as per procedure,” said Indora.

A case of possessing counterfeit coins and using them as genuine coins, criminal conspiracy and common intention was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita’s (BNS) sections 179, 180, 61 and 3 at the crime branch police station for further investigation aimed at busing the entire network.

During interrogation, DCP Indora said, revealed that he had procured the counterfeit ₹20 coins from Upkar Luthra, who supplied such fake coins at a discounted rate of ₹70,000 against a face value of ₹1,00,000 for further sale and circulation and had been previously arrested for similar offences.

“Luthra’s details were verified through e-Prison and he was found previously involved in similar modus operandi cases. It was further revealed that after Jain’s arrest, Luthra was shifting the illegal counterfeit coins manufacturing unit from Sonipat to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh along with his four associates. While shifting, Luthra and his associates were arrested by the Saharanpur police,” added the DCP.

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Arrests and court custody

Later, production warrants of Luthra and four others, identified as Anurag Pal, Janardhan Kumar Chaurasia, Kuldeep and Himanshu, were obtained and they were produced before the Tis Hazari court that granted their custody to the crime branch team.

“All five were interrogated. Prima facie involvement of Luthra, Pal and Chaurasia was established and they were formally arrested,” added DCP Indora.