The Hindu : Fake coin manufacturing unit busted, two held

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 29, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

Fake coin manufacturing unit busted, two held

By Karthik Subramanian

CHENNAI April 28. The busting of a fake coin manufacturing unit by the city police on Sunday could well be the tip of the iceberg, if the leads given by the accused are true.

The police literally tripped on the case when they detained a person near Mint junction in the wee hours of Sunday. A police patrol from the Flower Bazaar station was completing the night rounds, when they questioned a ``suspicious looking'' youth. Upon searching his belongings, the police recovered several five rupee coins.

Further investigations led to the confession by the youth, Jothi, that he had been involved in making counterfeit coins at a residence in Iyampakkam near Ambattur. A police team headed for the unit, where Jothi's accomplice, Kamaraj, was detained along with fake coins and raw materials including metals, lead and copper.

According to them, they had been in ``business'' for more than two months now. The coins were made of lead, using copper castings. After purchasing raw materials worth Rs 40, they would make at least 500 coins every day.

The fake coins made its way into the market through the currency exchange agencies, that charge a commission for converting currency notes into coins. There is a commission of Rs 50 for Rs 500 worth of coins. Several such agencies are operating near the Reserve Bank of India office on Rajaji Salai, falling under the jurisdiction of Flower Bazaar Police.

``It is possible that some of the agencies were also aware that the coins were fake. They have already confessed to us about three other gangs with similar modus operandi,'' said Joint Commissioner (North), C.Sylendra Babu.

Preliminary investigations point to Shanmugasundaram in Erode, as being the key player in training the two in preparing fake coins.

Sources said the City Police Commissioner had contacted the Erode SP. Two other units are said to be operating in Tiruchi.

This is the second counterfeit racket unearthed by the city police in a month. On April 6, a fake currency racket was brought to light when the currency notes were confiscated from the same Flower Bazaar area. The police had recovered rupees 100 and 500 denominations.

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