The West Bengal Police have arrested three persons for involvement in a counterfeit currency racket at Basirhat in the North 24 Parganas district. One person was cheated out of ₹22 lakhs in a loan scam that involved fake money.
Between July 18 and July 22, the West Bengal Police, with assistance from the Criminal Investigation Department (West Bengal CID), arrested Teesta Sen, Sirajuddin Mollah, and Debarta Chakraborty from different districts, according to a high-ranking official of the CID.
The main accused and “mastermind,” Abhishek Tiwari, is currently absconding, the official said.
The police were alerted after Mr. Mollah and Mr. Chakraborty made certain purchases in Dhamakhali Market on July 18 at around 8.30 p.m. with fake currency notes.
Make-believe currency seized
After an interrogation, police seized ₹7 crores 8 lakh in “make-believe” (play money) currency, ₹40,000 in counterfeit notes, and ₹52,000 in real money from Room 206 of Hotel Royal Island near Basirhat’s Dhamakhali Market. Police also found fake documents, packing materials, staplers, and an invoice for ₹30 crores.
“Mr. Tiwari and Ms. Sen were named in an investment fraud case by the cybercrime department last year as well. They are partners. In this racket, they would cheat people by offering to loan huge sums at a low interest rate without any paperwork, and demand one per cent of the loan amount as processing fees,” the official added.
The one victim so far, Subhasish Acharya of Asansol, was cheated of ₹22 lakhs, which Mr. Tiwari had taken as processing fees against a loan of ₹30 crores at 4% interest. The loan was never disbursed.
“Mr. Tiwari had contacted Mr. Chakraborty, who had a printing business, and asked him to print fake notes. The latter was not aware of Mr. Tiwari’s real motive,” the CID official said.
He added that Mr. Tiwari’s modus operandi was to video call loan-seekers and show them the bundles of fake currency notes, promising them loans at a 4% interest rate without any bank verification or paperwork. The first note in each bundle would be real cash.
Published – July 22, 2025 10:50 pm IST