With Eid-ul-Fitr fast appraching, a syndicate planned to release counterfeit banknotes worth around Tk2 crore.
They were caught red handed producing counterfeit currency, but had managed to release some of the fake banknotes before they were arrested on Wednesday.
Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested 10 members of this counterfeiting ring from different areas in Dhaka, and recovered equipment used for production and fake currency worth Tk1 crore.
The arrestees were identified as Rafik, Jakir, Hanif, Rajon Shikder alias Raju, Khokon alias Shaon, Ripon, Monir, Sohrab, Jasim, and Laboni.
Revealing the information on their arrest at a press briefing on Friday, Devdas Bhattacharya, additional commissioner of Detective Branch under Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said fraudsters and counterfeiters have become active in producing and circulating counterfeit notes ahead of Eid.
Fake banknotes worth over Tk3 crore could have been produced with the equipment and materials recovered from the arrestees, he added.
“According to our intelligence reports, there are eight to nine groups of counterfeiters who produce and circulate fake notes in Dhaka. Some members of those groups were arrested earlier. Our drives to arrest the others are underway,” Devdas said.
Rafik is the ring leader and Jakir helped with the production.
Rafik rented a house at East Jurain, which was used to produce these banknotes, the DB official said. The police had, in the past, arrested some of them who walked out of jail after securing bail, he added.
