• Davanagere Police bust racket; six including MBA graduate arrested 
• Counterfeit currency notes worth Rs. 20 lakh already circulated

Mysore/Mysuru: The Davanagere Police have busted a fake currency racket engaged in the production and circulation of counterfeit Indian currency. Six persons including an MBA graduate, have been arrested and authorities have confiscated counterfeit notes amounting to Rs 7.7 lakh, along with a car, laptops, colour printers and paper cutters. 

Notably, counterfeit currency notes amounting to Rs. 13 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh have already been circulated by the accused in the last three months. 

According to Davanagere Superintendent of Police (SP) Uma Prashanth, the Police acted on a tip-off about attempts to circulate fake currency. Teams swiftly moved to the Service Road near Hanagawadi village in Harihar Taluk. Two individuals, Talavara Kuberappa (58) from Kukkawada of Harihara Taluk in Davanagere district and Harish (29) from Igooru Lingapura of Davanagere Taluk, were arrested and Rs. 37,000 in fake Rs. 500 notes were seized.

Following leads provided by the arrested individuals, the Police detained J. Rudresh (39) from Doddagoppanahalli in Bhadravathi taluk, Manoj Gowda (21) from Makanahalli village of Bannur Hobli in T. Narasipur taluk, Mysuru district, Sandeep (30) from Bore Kallahalli in K.R. Nagar Taluk, Mysuru district and Krishna Naik (28) from Kalkere Lambani Hatti in Holalkere taluk. The authorities confiscated an additional Rs. 9,000 in fake Rs. 500 notes and a vehicle used for circulating counterfeit  Indian currency.

Rented house in Koorgalli

Subsequent to the initial arrests, the Police conducted a raid at Rudresh’s rented house in Koorgalli-Megalakoppalu in Mysuru district. Here, they discovered an operation for printing fake notes and seized both counterfeit and valid currency amounting to Rs. 43,000.

SP Uma Prashanth detailed that the Police team uncovered a significant number of counterfeit notes, including 718 fake Rs. 500 notes, 570 fake Rs. 500 notes with one-side print and 803 fake Rs. 200 notes with two-side print. A car, materials used to print the fake notes, laptops, colour prints and inks have been seized.  

The arrested individuals have been remanded to judicial custody. Notably, Kuberappa and Harish had previous fake note cases registered against them at Harihar Rural Police Station and Hosapete Town Police  Station in 2022.

The SP said that counterfeit currency notes amounting to Rs. 13 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh have already been circulated. The prime accused, Kuberappa and Rudresh, both facing previous fake currency note cases, were out on bail. Their modus operandi involved circulating fake notes alongside valid currency in crowded shops, fairs, and during nighttime.

MBA graduate, design expert

Rudresh, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduate, had faced losses in poultry farming during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unsuccessful attempts to secure employment led him to delve into the fake currency note racket. Rudresh, with technical expertise, acquired skills for printing counterfeit currency notes. 

Rudresh was an expert in design and used to draw the designs in the currency and watched several videos on YouTube on imitation painting and currency note colours. He came in contact with Talavara Kuberappa near his poultry farm. Later, they hatched a conspiracy to print and circulate the fake currency and purchased all the required second-hand materials from different shops                                                 in Bengaluru. 

While Rudresh is the technical expert behind the racket, Sandeep and Manoj Gowda assisted him in the printing process, while Kuberappa, Harish and Krishna Naik were involved in circulating the fake notes.