Bhopal: A gang that turned YouTube tutorials into a full-fledged fake currency factory has been busted by Madhya Pradesh Police in a dramatic midnight swoop across Bhopal, Khandwa and Ratlam.
The kingpin, 28-year-old Vivek Yadav, a computer graduate from Bhopal, confessed that it all began as a “harmless experiment”. Jobless and fascinated by online videos titled “How to print money at home”, Vivek invested ₹40,000 in a high-end colour printer, polymer paper, holographic strips and special ink ordered from dark web sellers. Within weeks, he was churning out near-perfect ₹500 and ₹200 notes.
The police recovered ₹42 lakh in counterfeit currency, two heavy-duty printers, blank polymer sheets, cutting machines, UV lamps, and over 1,000 fake security threads from three locations. “The quality was so high that it initially fooled some bank employees,” stated Bhopal SP Siddharth Choudhary.
The racket came to light when a petrol pump owner in Khandwa deposited suspiciously crisp notes that failed the UV test. Swift technical surveillance led the Cyber Cell and Crime Branch to Vivek’s flat in Arera Colony, where officers found him live-streaming the printing process to two associates in Ratlam.
Five persons, including Vivek, have been arrested under IPC sections 489A to 489E (counterfeiting currency) and IT Act provisions. Police say the gang had already pumped nearly ₹1.2 crore in fake notes into the market through petty shopkeepers and vegetable vendors in rural areas.
Investigators warn that YouTube and Telegram channels glorifying “easy money” are inspiring unemployed youth across the country. “This is the new face of crime: educated, tech-savvy and dangerously creative,” an officer remarked.