One held for possessing fake currency notes

Gangtok, Aug 19 (UNI) One person selling fake currency notes of Rs 500 denomination was arrested by the state police on Friday night and fake currency notes amounting to Rs 10,000 were recovered from his possession, police today said.

The accused, Zahid Hussian, was arrested from a Gangtok hotel trying to sell fake currency notes.

''The quality was as good as an original one and could have been passed off easily as the real thing,'' police said.

The police said Hussain claimed he could arrange up to Rs two crore fake notes in a day, which revealed that there could be a bigger racket involved in the printing and circulation of such notes.

Police investigations revealed he had come on a trial basis this time and to feel the market here, sources said.

Police were investigating and verifying the nationality of Hussain and claimed that he could be a Bangladeshi national.

Meanwhile, Hussain claimed he belonged to Islampur in North Dinajpur district of Bengal. He had been working as a mason in a monastery in Ghoom, Darjeeling.

Sikkim police are in contact with their counterparts in Siliguri and Darjeeling in their investigations. Police are on the look-out for more contacts of the person.

Meanwhile, some senior banking officials in the capital claimed that fake currency notes had been regularly found in the daily transactions for the past months.

UNI