Probe into UP's fake currency case slows down

Siddharthnagar, Aug 21 (UNI) The probe into the State Bank of India (SBI) Dumariyaganj chest fake currency racket has slowed down as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was yet to take up the charge of the investigation from the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Sources today said the probe was currently facing hindrance due to limited equipment and powers possessed by the SIT. The team also lacks Interpol authority, which was necessitated as the racket might have wider ramifications.

The SBI Dumariyaganj chest had total Rs 184 crore, of which screening of Rs 150 crore has been completed. However, the bank officials were still to reveal the amount of notes that have been detected counterfeit so far, they added.

The counting of currency was being done by the SBI officials under the supervision of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), they added.

Station House Officer (SHO) of Dumariyaganj police station, Bahadur Singh was attached to lines after Rs five lakh were found missing from the bank, said chest cashier Sudhakar Tripathi.

Jai Ram Gautam has replaced him as the new SHO.

The police have also started investigation against those policemen and officials, who were charged with protecting the accused by former Vidhan Sabha speaker Mata Prasad Pandey in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday.

On July 29, STF of the Uttar Pradesh Police had confiscated Rs 5,00,000 fake Indian currency and later held bank cashier Sudhakar with Rs 7,21,000, including fake notes worth Rs 5,000 from his house.

On August 4, a team of senior RBI officials reached the bank and seized counterfeit Indian currency worth Rs 20 lakh from the branch's main chest in Siddharthnagar district.

On August 7, the Uttar Pradesh government had ordered probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the multi-crore rupees fake currency racket. Realising the seriousness of the case, the very next day, the government had recommended investigation by the CBI.

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