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NEW DELHI: Two years ago, 27-year-old Ravi Sandhu was surfing YouTube when he came across a video tutorial on how to print fake Indian currency . Inspired by this, he bought a computer and a printer and began to print fake notes in the denominations of Rs 2,000, 500 and 200.

He first started to circulate them in remote areas of Punjab, but after a crackdown by police he shifted his base to Delhi. He would circulate these notes at weekly markets and liquor shops late in the evening when they would be crowded. Police have seized his set-up and fake notes with a face value of Rs 1.38 lakh. Sandhu has confessed to having printed notes with Rs 10 lakh face value till date.

Sandhu, who is unmarried, belongs to Ludhiana but lived in a rented accommodation in Vishnu Garden of southwest Delhi. During interrogation, he said that Punjab Police had arrested him as well for running the fake currency racket.

After coming to Delhi, he was more careful in his activities and would change his hideout every three months to avoid coming under police radar. He also made sure not to visit the same shop twice to push the fake notes. DCP Monika Bhardwaj said that an FIR for printing counterfeit currency has been registered against Sandhu. A probe is on to ascertain if he had any accomplices.

The accused would download pictures of notes and then take printouts on normal paper. The notes would be cut carefully to match the size of the original note. He would keep the notes in damp places and crumple them before circulating them in the markets so that they assumed the look of original currency.

His racket in Delhi was busted after cops at Tilak Nagar police station got a tip-off about his activities in a weekly market. A team comprising SI Anshu and others was formed and traps laid at multiple places. Sandhu was arrested when he reached a shop with the fake notes.

“We seized 64 notes in the denomination of Rs 2,000, 17 notes of Rs 500 and eight fake Rs 200 notes. If analysed carefully, one can easily find a lot of difference in the quality of the note, paper and thread when compared with original currency,” a senior officer said.

