Pune: The Koregaon Park police have recovered more than 300 counterfeit Rs 500 currency notes after conducting searches at the rented residences of two accused in Tingrenagar and Lohegaon on Sunday.Police had arrested Omprakash Agarwal (32), a resident of Tingrenagar, and Mausam Narendra Mishra (36), a resident of Lohegaon, on Dhole Patil Road after they had allegedly used a counterfeit Rs 500 note at a tea stall on Boat Club Road.According to the police, the elderly tea stall owner had accepted the note and returned the balance amount to the duo. However, the stall owner’s son, Siddharam Bidankar (25), a resident of Tadiwala Road, arrived at the spot and noticed the note. Suspecting it to be counterfeit, he decided to follow the two men.The duo later stopped at a nearby pan stall, where they allegedly used another counterfeit Rs 500 note. Bidankar and his friend then apprehended the suspects and alerted the police control room.The Koregaon Park police examined the notes and confirmed that they were counterfeit. The two notes used at the tea stall and pan stall were seized on the spot. Subsequently, the police searched the accused’s rented flats and recovered more than 300 counterfeit currency notes from the two premises. Police said the duo allegedly intended to circulate the fake notes in the market.“We are trying to trace the source and origin of these counterfeit currency notes. A special team has been formed to investigate the case,” a senior police officer said.
