In a joint operation, the Mumbai unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Mumbai police busted a counterfeit currency printing unit in Vikhroli West, leading to the seizure of fake notes worth ₹1,800 and the arrest of the man behind the illicit operation.
The accused, Kulbir Wad, a music teacher and stock trader, was handed over to the Parksite police by the DRI.
The police thereafter arrested him. According to officials, Wad allegedly admitted to setting up the counterfeit currency unit after incurring losses in the stock market.
“The accused resides in the city with his family. He is a musician, gives private music lessons, and is also involved in stock trading. After facing financial setbacks, he claims to have resorted to printing counterfeit notes to recover his losses. However, he had only just begun when he was caught,” an officer from the Parksite police station said.
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The operation resulted in the seizure of 34 fake ₹50 notes and one ₹100 note, all of which were of substandard quality.
“The seized notes resembled mere photocopies at first glance,” the officer added.
Acting on specific intelligence received on Thursday, the DRI, along with independent witnesses and police personnel, searched Wad’s rented premises in Anandgad, Parksite.
Officials discovered that he had recently set up the counterfeit currency operation using cyber tools, including computer monitors and colour printers.
Police investigations revealed that Wad had rented a small 10×10-foot one-room-kitchen unit on the first floor of a house just 12 days ago. He had not yet formalised a rental agreement with the landlord.
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Following a complaint by the DRI, the Parksite police registered a case against Wad under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including section 178 (counterfeiting currency, coins, government stamps, and banknotes) and section 179 (use of counterfeit currency and government stamps). He was subsequently placed under arrest.
DRI sources on Friday said that its Vikhroli operation was part of the agency’s “nationwide crackdown on modules involved in the import of security paper and printing Fake Indian Currency Notes.”.
A DRI source said, “The busted Vikhroli unit was a sophisticated facility. Based on DRI’s complaint, the person in Vikhroli was arrested, and all the apparatus and tools were seized by the jurisdictional police authorities.”
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Earlier on February 8, the DRI had arrested two persons found to be the actual importers of high-quality paper with embedded security thread having inscriptions of ‘RBI’ and ‘Bharat ‘(’security paper’) in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
When HT visited the locality, residents said they barely knew Wad, as he had only recently moved in and kept to himself.
“This is a peaceful neighbourhood, and we have never seen such an incident before. The sudden presence of plainclothes DRI officials and police officers was shocking,” said a resident, requesting anonymity.