By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Feb. 18: The Metropolitan Crime Division arrested four individuals with counterfeit Nepali currencies from Naya Bazaar area in Ward No. 16 of Kathmandu Metropolitan City on Wednesday.
The four individuals were held with 294 notes of Rs. 1,000 denominations. The arrested individuals have been identified as Prithvi Prasad Sah, 28; Mohammad Musaraf Ali, 27; Asaraf Ali Saheed, 30; and Mohammad Shamsad Alam, 28. They all hailed from Rautahat district.

The division informed that they arrested the four individuals based on special tipoff and continuous investigation.
“We reached an individual through a special tipoff as we were following the racket for around four months. After we got hold of the individual, we arrested others as well,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basanta Bahadur Kunwar.

SSP Kunwar, who is also the chief at the division, informed that they had earlier received some counterfeit notes from the markets of Kathmandu which are linked with the recently arrested group.
Similarly, the preliminary investigation showed that the group had brought counterfeit currencies worth Rs. 500,000 to the Kathmandu Valley.
“This racket showed that there has been a rise in smuggling, printing and using of counterfeit notes in Kathmandu. They have already used around half of the fake notes in the market,” said SSP Kunwar.

Among the seized counterfeit cash, around 40-50 notes had same serial numbers.
“The rackets used one or two fake bills of Rs. 1,000 in between genuine notes. Fake notes are even being smuggled and sold under commission,” said SSP Kunwar, who added that further investigation into the racket was underway.

The authorities have requested the public to be aware and reach them out if the bills they received raised suspicion.