Supplier held in Delhi, owners at large; officials suspect huge illegal trade

The Delhi Police have sealed a factory minting counterfeit coins in Outer Delhi’s Bawana Industrial Area after the arrest of a man who allegedly supplied these coins.

Fake coins with denominations of Rs. 5 and 10 and a total value of Rs. 40,000 were seized from 42-year-old Naresh Kumar, said the police. Officers, however, suspect that the scale of the illegal trade could be greater and coins thus manufactured have already entered the local economy in huge numbers.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) M.N. Tiwari said while Naresh Kumar worked on commission basis, the owners of the factory Raju and Sonu are currently absconding.

“Until they are arrested, we have to wait for the details such as the production cost of each coin and the margin it earned for the duo. They would pay Naresh Kumar a commission of Rs. 5,000 for circulating coins worth Rs. 1 lakh in the market. Naresh Kumar supplied it to malls, small retailers, pan shop owners, toll bridges and other areas where there is a higher demand for loose change,” said Mr. Tiwari.

He said that these coins look identical to the genuine ones and the same metals are used to manufacture them. “The dyeing and stamping is also similar and they weigh almost the same. It is almost impossible to distinguish one from the other,” said Mr. Tiwari.

But Naresh Kumar’s rather accidental arrest did make it easier for the policemen.

Police said that during a surprise check near Shree Balaji Mandir Dividing Road, in Outer District one Swift Dzire car travelling from Shahbad Dairy to the Rohini area was intercepted.

Inside the trunk of the car, two plastic bags having 20 packets each of counterfeit coins were found. Each packet contained about 100 coins. The total face value was Rs. 40,000.

Naresh Kumar was driving the car. “Since there were a lot of coins, we asked him to explain. He claimed to be an officer from the Punjab National Bank. When police asked for his identity card he refused to provide it. On suspicion, police detained him for questioning and he admitted that the coins were not genuine,” said Mr. Tiwari.

Naresh allegedly confessed that he was involved in counterfeit coins supply since 2014.

He revealed that during the course of getting loose change for his car accessories business, he came in contact with Sonu and Raju who used to deliver him coins of denomination of Rs.5 and Rs.10 at his shop.

After some time, both Raju and Sonu talked him into supplying counterfeit coins on commission basis, said Mr. Tiwari.