Fake currency: Two Lankans arrested in India

CHENNAI: The Chennai police on Tuesday arrested two Sri Lankan Tamils, including a businessman, for allegedly depositing fake currency 'worth' Rs 450,000 in two branches of a private bank.

According to police, Prince, 28, who arrived in Chennai from Sri Lanka on May 31, had deposited the fake currency in denominations of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500. On verification, bank officials found that the currencies were fake.

Police took Prince into custody and also seized fake currency notes from him. During interrogation, Prince claimed he had sold a diamond ring in Anna Nagar for Rs 4.5 lakhs and deposited a part of that amount in the bank. However, police recovered Rs 50,000 worth fake currencies from his bag.

When questioned about this, Prince refused to respond. Meanwhile, police got information that Prince deposited Rs 2 lakhs at the Thiruvanmiyur branch a few hours before he entered the bank's Royapettah branch.

Investigations revealed that Prince had deposited the cash in the account of Parameshwaran, another Sri Lankan settled in Madipakkam. On interrogation, he confessed that Prince had deposited Rs 2 lakhs in his account and had transferred the cash into another of his account in Colombo. Prince later withdrew this money.

Parameshwaran gets a commission for each transaction, police said. The special branch CID and 'Q' branch wing interrogated the duo to check whether they were involved with the LTTE. Meanwhile, fake currency notes were found in the bank's branch at Mogappair. A passer-by Lucas 54, recovered the fake notes and gave them to the J J Nagar police.

The Times of India