Fake coin factories: Did Haryana turn a deaf ear to alerts?

Did Haryana Police turn a blind eye to the fake coin factories when they were alerted five months ago?

In May, a woman wrote to Haryana’s Hisar police station house officer, alleging that her husband was murdered by seven men who ran a fake coin factory.

She gave the phone numbers of five men, including that of Naresh Kumar, Sonu, Gulshan Kumar and Sachin. She accused them of first kidnapping her husband, Rajender Verma, at the Bihar-Nepal border.

Delhi Police arrested Gulshan, Naresh and Sachin last week for counterfeiting R 5 and R 10 coins at two factories in Bawana and Ambala. Police recovered over R 6 lakh in fake coins so far.

HT has a copy of the FIR with charges of murder and kidnapping registered at the Hisar police station on May 24 by Verma’s wife, Saroj Devi.

The woman’s statement reads,” These men are minting counterfeit coins. They had also influenced my husband into joining their racket. They have started a factory in Ambala and another in Rajasthan.” Saroj Devi had also given police the numbers of all five men, demanding their arrest.

Delhi Police sources said the Haryana Police did not act on the complaint. Hisar superintendent of police, Ashwin Shenvi, did not respond to HT’s three phone calls and a text message.

The Delhi Police on Monday said the woman’s husband, Verma, was also a gang member who gave money to Gulshan for setting up the factory in Ambala.

On October 3, the racket was busted when three head constables from the anti-auto theft squad stopped a car while checking vehicles at Sector 11 in Rohini. The three found over 2,000 coins in the car of Naresh Kumar, who claimed to be a Punjab National Bank officer. Kumar was arrested when he failed to show any identity card.

Delhi Police investigating officers say Sonu, the gang’s kingpin, is absconding since Naresh’s arrest. Police are trying to locate the third factory in Rajasthan. “We have seen many gangs smuggle fake currency notes, but this is the first time we are seeing fake coins. We are probing if the gang had factories in Nepal. It is possible that some anti-nationals are using the Nepal route to pump fake coins into country,” said an officer.

THE STORY

•Delhi Police busted two fake coin factories and arrested three members recently

•Gangs once unified, but broke away in December to make more profits

•Both factories started in industrial areas — outer Delhi’s Bawana in Mrach 2016 and Haryana’s Saha in December

•Police suspect there are more factories as gang was in business since 2014. Probe on

•Cops seized R 40,000 in fake coins from Bawana gang and over Rs 5.75 lakh from Ambala gang

•Coins were of R 5 and R 10 denominations, hidden in warehouses at Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.

•Police suspect presence of another factory on Bihar-Nepal border

•A man allegedly murdered by arrested gang member Gulshan went missing. He ran a gutka factory in Nepal