Delhi police has arrested a 25-year-old designer, Krishan Bharadwaj from South Delhi along with his 23-year-old friend Ashish who is a mobile technician. The duo used to print fake notes at home and later used to circulate them at 50 percent of the face value in areas like Njafgarh and Uttam Nagar.
A resident of Najafgarh, Krishan is trained in desktop publishing and had good Coral Draw, Photoshop and pacemaker skills. He was unemployed at the moment and used his skills to produce Rs. 6 lakhs fake currency in the newly introduced Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000 notes. His actions were brought under suspicion when he used those fake Rs. 2000 notes at a departmental store in Southwest Delhi. Since the ink of those notes aroused, the shopkeeper reported the matter to a head constable who was his regular customer.
The Delhi police then set-up a meeting with the culprits. They met Ashish and Krishan near Shamshan Ghat, Kiran Garden and Bindapur and on the eve of January 9 got hold of them. Later, Delhi police seized Rs. 6 lakh in fake currency from Krishan’s house along with printers and computer. According to the police, Krishna had spent spent around Rs. 25,000 in fake currency in last one month.
The government of India declared the old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes invalid on November 9 and replaced them with new currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000. This primary aim behind this decision was to reduce corruption in India but curbing the use of fake currency was also a part of government plans. However, this incident shows that such things are still being practiced in India.
Delhi police also mentioned that the actions of Krishan and Ashish were inspired from a Hollywood movie if that is actually the case, it is a matter of serious concern. If India’s youth continues to get influenced and distracted by the what they witness on screen, there will be bigger challenges awaiting government and police in the future.
