2017-07-21 Fri

A 50-year-old resident of Punjab, Upkar Luthra, was arrested from a hotel in Kondli, Haryana on 4th July for heading a gang involved in minting and circulating fake Rs 5 coins. Fake coins worth Rs 8,500 were seized during this arrest.

Luthra is wanted in many criminal cases like murder as well. He was arrested in 1999 for minting fake coins. He started doing it again in Anand Vihar, Delhi, after he was released. He escaped to Nepal in 2008 and managed this racket while his brother Sweekar took care of operations in India. His gang was caught in October 2016. Counterfeit coins worth Rs 17,390 were recovered from Sweekar in December 2016.

The shape of coins was made from metallic sheets in lathe machines. The coins were produced using heating and hydraulic machines. Finally, an anti-rust liquid was sprayed on the coins before distributing them at toll centres, markets and small shopkeepers in different parts of Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana.