Guwahati: Police have arrested five people from Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand and one from Assam with fake Indian currency notes (FICN) worth more than Rs 10 lakh in Guwahati over the past two days, uncovering a link to Lakhimpur district.Police sources said accused Ajay Vishwakarma, arrested on Monday night from the Six Mile area, told investigators that a racket led by a man identified as Sahil and his wife Sumi was operating from Lakhimpur. He said counterfeit notes were printed in Lakhimpur and smuggled into Guwahati.A police source said the gang had set up a hub near the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT). Vishwakarma also named Afsanur Rahman and Chinmoy Kalita as key figures in the plan who drew up the blueprints to circulate large quantities of counterfeit notes in Guwahati markets.Earlier, police arrested Dayal Das and Golab Sheikh from Jharkhand’s Pakur district, and Mahesh Shukla and Roshan Gupta from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.“Involvement of a big racket is being suspected. Investigation is underway to unearth the racket. Every aspect including the inter-state links is being investigated,” the source said. The accused are currently in police custody.In 2023, Assam Police arrested at least 71 people in cases linked to counterfeit currency and fake gold, with Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Morigaon and Sonitpur identified as hotspots.
