Police in Karnataka’s Belagavi district have arrested eight persons, including two police constables from Maharashtra, for allegedly running a fraud in which chemicals and black-coated paper were used to pass off fake currency.
The Gokak City police conducted a raid at a house near the Hanuman temple in Gokak on Tuesday and busted the operation. Seven accused have been taken into custody, while one is absconding.
According to Superintendent of Police K. Ramarajan, the accused were involved in a “money doubling” scam. He said that three suspects from Gokak were in contact with a woman identified as Jayashri Babu from Maharashtra, who used forged methods to cheat people. In this case, they used the ‘black note’ trick.
Explaining the modus operandi, SP Ramarajan said the accused would apply a black chemical to genuine currency notes, making them appear like plain black paper. In front of the victims, they would heat the paper and dip it in a solution to show it turning back into real currency, using pre-treated original notes.
He said victims were made to believe the process was real, while in fact the notes were genuine all along. The accused would then sell bundles of ordinary black paper at a 1:4 ratio, promising huge returns, for instance, ₹7,000 in exchange for ‘magic paper’ worth ₹2 lakh.
He added that two Maharashtra police constables, Anand Prakash Narwade from Thane and Diladar Abanishek from Palghar, were also involved in the racket.
Other arrested accused include Parashuram Bhimsi Badakari (Gokak), Jayashri Babu Kamble (Mumbai), Manisha Raju Gaikwad (Ahmednagar), and Ujwal Tulsiram Bilane (Jalgaon).
SP Ramarajan said that while eight people are involved, seven have been arrested and one local suspect is still on the run. Police have seized a heating machine, chemicals, and black papers used in the scam. He added that sub-inspector Kiran Mohit acted on a tip-off and carried out the raid, and that one of the accused, Parashuram, is also linked to three earlier robbery cases. Investigation is ongoing.
