Rapid Action Battalion arrested three people, including the ringleader of a fake note making syndicate, in Dhaka on Monday night.
The battalion personnel also seized counterfeit notes worth around Tk 1.20 crore and note making materials from their possession, said RAB spokesperson Khandaker Al Moin.
The arrested are Md Sagir Hossain, 47, ringleader of the syndicate, and his associates — Md Ruhul Amin, 33, and Selina Akhter Pakhi, 20.
On November 28 last year, RAB-4 detained four people for their alleged involvement in manufacturing counterfeit notes, Moin said during a press briefing at the RAB media centre in Dhaka's Karwan Bazar on Tuesday.
The law enforcement agency extracted information from them during interrogation and came to know about the ringleader and other members of the gang.
Later, a team of RAB-4 conducted a raid in the Pallabi area and apprehended Sagir along with the two associates.
During the primary interrogation, the arrested said that they had been making counterfeit notes in different areas, including Dhaka and Barishal, for a long time and selling them to various people at low prices.
“Some 15 to 20 people are involved with the gang,” said Moin, director of RAB’s legal and media wing.
Sagir came to Dhaka from Barguna in 1987 and worked in a hotel. He later started selling garment clothes and did well in the business.
Then, he involved himself in making counterfeit notes behind the business, the RAB official said.
He learned manufacturing fake notes from one Idris. In 2017, the two were arrested and sent to jail.
Sagir came out of jail in 2018 and was involved in making fake notes again.
The counterfeit notes made by him were sold by seven to eight people, including Ruhul and Selina, Moin said.
This RAB official said that Sagir used to sell a bundle of one lakh taka fake notes at Tk 15,000.
The gang planned to make a huge amount of counterfeit notes targeting the trade fairs and various festivals during winter and fairs in remote areas, he added.
