Seven persons arrested in fake currency deal

Agartala, Nov 11: Mizoram police has arrested seven persons, including two from Tripura, for dealing in fake currency and supplying the counterfeit notes to the State Bank of India (SBI).

Police said here today that the arrested persons included SBI Branch Manager of Mamit in western Mizoram Nikkilal Sangliana and former Block Development Committee Chairman of Congress Md Karim Mian of North Tripura.

Acting on a tip-off, police apprehended Mr Sangliana and two others at the Mamit SBI branch last week when the fake Indian notes were supplied to the branch manager. Counterfeit notes worth Rs 1.96 lakh, hidden in an envelope addressed to the Bangladesh Central Bank, were recovered from their possession.

Reportedly, the government employees at Mamit had been receiving fake notes from the SBI for the past few months and the bank employees had informed the matter to the police.

Later, police intercepted the telephone calls of Mr Sangliana and Md Mian last week.

''Md Karim Mian had been supplying the fake notes to several parts of the region and recently he expanded his nexus to Mizoram.

We have assured the Mizoram authorities to extend our full support in the investigation,'' a senior police officer in North Tripura said.

UNI