Hyderabad: Ex-reporter among 3 held for currency racket

Task Force sleuths on Monday arrested three persons, including a former reporter, for involvement in a fake currency note racket.

The trio palnned to lure innocent people to exchange their genuine currency notes with fake notes in the ratio of 1:3. Police  seized fake currency notes in 500-rupee denomination purported to be of the value of Rs 2 lakh.

The accused are G Anji Reddy (27), real estate businessman and native of Chinna Thimmapur in Mulugu mandal in Medak district; G Srisailam Goud (33), hotelier (Desai Dhaba) at Podchanpally in Medak district; and D Prasad,  (20), an employee at Desai Dhaba, Podchanpally.

Anji Reddy passed Intermediate and did not study further due to financial problems. Earlier, he had worked as a reporter for News-9 daily for some period. During a visit to Desai Dhaba at Podchanpally on real estate business, he developed friendship with Srisailam Goud and Prasad. As the real estate business was on the decline, Anji Reddy thought of taking up some other business which was lucrative. On coming to know that a friend of his, Prasanth of Turkapally, was involved in preparation of fake currency notes of 500-rupee denomination, he learnt the skill from him.

``With a mind to earn easy money Anji Reddy got in contact with Goud and Prasad, explained to him about his plan and offered them handsome commission for identifying and bringing customers to him. On the duo agreeing to join hands with him, Anji Reddy bought a laptop computer and a printer in the city and started printing fake currency notes of 500-rupee denomination by downloading different models of the currency note from the Internet. For this he used the house of Srisailam Goud,’’ said deputy commissioner of police, Task Force, Ch Ramchander.

After printing fake notes worth Rs 2 lakh in the first lot, Anji Reddy and Prasad got in touch with `customers’ for exchange of fake currency notes in the ratio of 1:3 for genuine notes.

Having been tipped off that Anji Reddy and Prasad came to the city to contact gullible customers, the Task Force team nabbed the duo at the Bowernpally Crossroad and seized bundles of the fake currency notes from them. At their instance, the police also nabbed Goud later.

The three offenders, along with the seized property, will be handed over to the Bowenpally police.