A fake currency printing racket was busted and four persons including a woman were arrested on Wednesday. The fake notes amounting Rs 42,500, huge quantity of papers and a scanner-cum-printer machine were seized. The accused have been identified as mastermind Radhakanta Rai alias Suru (24), Chanchala Saha (42) and her son Ganesh Saha (25) besides Santosh Rana (23).

Sambalpur Sadar SDPO PK Mohapatra said on a tip-off, Ainthapali police managed to catch Rana on Tuesday  evening. During search, police recovered fake notes of 500 and 100 denominations. On interrogation, Santosh revealed the racket and the modus operandi. Police then nabbed Radhakanta and seized four counterfeit notes of Rs1000 and 48 fake notes of Rs 500  from him, Mohapatra said.

Radhakanta who is an alumnus of Industrial Training Institute (ITI) at Hirakud and completed the course in electrical trade revealed that he printed the fake currencies in Karmapada, a hamlet of Jhariabahal village under Laikera police limits in Jharsuguda district. Consequently, a police team swooped down Karmapada and arrested Chanchala Saha and her son Ganesh from a house and seized 26 fake notes of Rs 500 and the printer machine. Chanchala along with his son was living at her paternal house at Karmapada to run the illegal trade, Mohapatra said.