BJP youth leader nabbed in counterfeit currency racket
23 Jun 2017
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth leader was arrested on Thursday in connection with a fake currency racket uncovered by the police in Kerala.
The state police have seized Rs1,37,590 in fake currency and printing machines from the house of a Yuva Morcha leader in Sree Narayanapuram near Kodungallur. The police have arrested one Erachery Rakesh, 31.
A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Rakesh Erachery was arrested by the police on charges of printing and circulating fake currency notes. As per a report in the National Herald, the Thrissur police stated that they had been watching Rakesh and his brother Rajiv for a long time, and finally acted on an input on Thursday and conducted the raid.
The BJP said that Rakesh was a regional committee member of the Yuva Morcha. The district president of the party said that Rakesh and his brother have both been expelled.
The notes were of denominations of Rs2,000 (65 notes), Rs500 (eight), Rs50 (five) and Rs20 (10), Chalakkudy Deputy Superintendent of Police Shahul Hameed said.
The state Intelligence Bureau kept a watch on both of them after it realised that the brothers had become rich overnight. Investigations also found that the brothers had indulged in illegal money lending operations.
The brothers scanned valid currency notes using computers and took print-outs on bond paper, the police said. Investigations found that the fake currencies looked genuine and it was difficult to identify them if transactions were done in a bunch. The fake notes were used for transactions at petrol pumps and at bars as well as for buying lottery tickets.
It is noteworthy that Rajiv was one of the advocates of demonetisation and reportedly also featured in a poster with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah in January this year to spread awareness about black money.
