Noida: Four men, including three college students, were arrested by a team from Knowledge Park police station on Friday for circulating counterfeit currency they made after taking lessons from YouTube.Police found the gang offered Rs 5 lakh in fake notes in exchange for Rs 2 lakh in genuine cash. Counterfeit notes with a face value of around Rs 1.8 lakh, Rs 1,000 in cash and a Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire without a number plate were recovered from their possession.An officer said the alleged mastermind of the gang, Arjun Singh (22), planned to start the gang with a man named Kuber Singh, when both of them were lodged in a jail in Ayodhya in 2024. The two discussed the details of how to make the notes and then devised a plan to manufacture them.After Arjun got out of jail, he recruited Shashank Gupta (19), Shantanu Singh (19) and Vaibhav Shukla (19), all of whom are college students. Gupta is pursuing his final year of BCom, while Shantanu is a second-year BA LLB student and Shukla is in the final year of his BCA course. The three students also have previous cases registered against them at Ayodhya Cantonment police station.The illegal proceeds from the trade were later shared among all members of the group.DCP (Greater Noida) Shrawan Kumar said, “The four accused were arrested near Kondli Pusta following an intelligence-based operation. Police recovered 920 counterfeit Rs 200 notes with a total face value of Rs 1.84 lakh, along with Rs 1,000 in cash and a Swift Dzire car without a number plate. Further investigation is underway to identify others involved in the racket.”A case has been registered at Knowledge Park police station under sections 178, 179 and 180 of BNS, pertaining to counterfeiting currency and related offences. Further investigation is underway.On Oct 5, police in Greater Noida arrested three persons for manufacturing fake notes, which they said during interrogation, they learnt to make through Instagram reels. All three of the accused in that case too were college students — a BSc graduate, a law student and a BA final-year student.Counterfeit notes, a printer, a cutting machine and an SUV were recovered from them.
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