The Alappuzha South police on Monday arrested one more person in connection with the seizure of counterfeit Indian currency notes from Alappuzha last month. The arrested was Suresh Babu of Chingoli near Haripad. Alappuzha DySP N.R. Jayaraj said the arrested was a member of a gang involved in circulating fake currency notes. Babu was booked in a similar case in 2009. Mr. Jayaraj said further details could not be disclosed as it would affect the ongoing investigation.
The police last week arrested M. Jishamol (39), an Agriculture department official, in the case. She was held after a staff member of a shop at Iron Bridge tried to deposit seven counterfeit currency notes of ₹500 denomination at the Convent Square branch of Federal Bank on February 25. After the bank authorities filed a police complaint, the investigators traced the origin of the counterfeit notes to Jishamol. She was later shifted to a mental health centre in Thiruvananthapuram based on a court order.
The police, meanwhile, are on the lookout for a close friend of Jishamol, identified only as a martial arts trainer, whom they consider as “a person of interest” in the case. Though there were reports of him being taken into custody from Palakkad, the police were yet to confirm it.
