MUMBAI: The directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) has arrested three persons, including a Congress politician and a builder, in a Rs 9 lakh fake currency racket.

The arrested accused have been identified as general secretary of North Central Mumbai District Congress Committee Haji Imran Sheikh, his uncle Zahid Sheikh and builder from Bandra Mahesh Alimchandani .

The DRI is in the process of taking the custody of a fourth person, Shivaji Khedekar, who has already been arrested by the Ahmednagar police in another fake currency case.

The DRI has seized Rs 500 notes of Rs 9 lakh face value from Haji which he was to deliver to someone at BandraKurla Complex. Officials said that the only difference in the fake notes is that the ink used to print is a little lighter and security thread also doesn’t have the two-dimensional colour. The currency is believed to have been smuggled in from Bangladesh.

Haji and his uncle had got the fake currency notes from Alimchandani for half the face value — Rs 4.5 lakh. “Both of them were interrogated and a search was carried out in their houses but nothing was found. However, during interrogation, they spilled the beans on each other and said that they used to get the notes from Alimchandani who used to get them from Pune businessman Khadekar,” a source said. The officials then arrested Alimchandani from Deccan Co-operative Housing Society in Khar. Alimchandani said that he received 5% of the amount as his commission and he had in the past circulated around Rs 10 lakh in Rs 500 notes in the market. During investigation, the agency has learnt that in the past, Haji and his uncle Zahid circulated fake currency while buying goats. Most of the goat traders are from Rajasthan , said a source.

This is the third seizure of fake currency by the DRI in the the last three months. In August, the agency had seized Rs 7 .58 lakh in fake notes of Rs 2,000 and in September, it seized Rs 8 lakh from Mumbai and Bangalore.

