Bhoir ordered a printer worth Rs 10,000, looked up online videos on printing ‘currency notes at home’ and kept practising over a month before he got the format right. (Representational) Bhoir ordered a printer worth Rs 10,000, looked up online videos on printing ‘currency notes at home’ and kept practising over a month before he got the format right. (Representational)

A 23-YEAR-OLD student, arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch last week for possessing fake notes with a face value of Rs 1.5 lakh, has claimed that he decided to replicate the currency after he received fake notes as payment for products he delivered for an online portal.

The accused, Omkar Bhoir, is a graduate student in Mumbai University and works as a delivery agent for a popular portal. The police said Bhoir claimed that on three occasions, he received payment in fake currency after delivering orders.

“During interrogation, he said that since he found it difficult to identify fake currency, he decided to print fake notes,” said Inspector Yogesh Chavan.

Soon after, Bhoir ordered a printer worth Rs 10,000, looked up online videos on printing ‘currency notes at home’ and kept practising over a month before he got the format right. Following a tip-off, he was arrested last week and fake currency with a face value of Rs 1.5 lakh was seized from his Kandivali residence, said police.

“We found that he had in all printed fake notes with a face value of Rs 2.49 lakh,” said Chavan.

After buying the printer, Bhoir purchased good quality paper. Initially, he tried printing Rs 2,000 notes but could not print it well. He then tried printing Rs 500 notes and managed to do it well. “It took him a month to get the printing right,” said senior Inspector (Unit V) Jagdish Sail.

“He then tried using the fake notes to purchase fruits and vegetables. He would purchase something worth Rs 50 by paying with fake notes with the face value of Rs 500. In return, he would get Rs 400 in genuine notes,” Chavan said.

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