Are your 20 rupee coins real? How Police unravelled a multi-city counterfeit scam

A multi-city counterfeit coin scam has been unravelled by police across Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. The syndicate produced up to 3.5 million Rs 20 coins, amounting to Rs 70 crore, in a decade-long operation. On September 13, Saharanpur Police intercepted five men and recovered six heavy machines, just as they were moving the equipment to evade detection.

Upkar Luthra, Himanshu, Kuldeep and two others were arrested and charged with manufacturing and distributing counterfeit coins. The group claimed to have produced and circulated more than Rs 70 crore in fake Rs 20 coins, although the police have yet to verify this figure. The counterfeit coins were manufactured using six heavy machines, iron dies and other equipment at a facility in Sonipat, Haryana.

The accused procured aluminium-copper-nickel rings from Delhi and ordered coin-shaped dies from another Delhi-based unit. During production, the dies were pressed onto the rings, and the machines refined the coins to give them a more precise circular shape. The group had also recovered 39 unmarked and 20 marked dies, die-polishing equipment, grinding stones, brushes, files, hammers, saws, wrenches, pliers and a caliper.

Upkar Luthra, a repeat offender previously arrested in connection with counterfeit coin manufacturing, oversaw the finishing of coins, while others managed different aspects of the operation. The counterfeit coins were supplied to intermediaries across India.