It takes 3,50,00,000 twenty-rupee coins to make Rs 70 crore, and a counterfeit coin manufacturing racket operating out of Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand have circulated as many, if not more, of these coins in the Indian market.As part of the racket, a small group of men had been running a unit in Haryana’s Sonipat district for around 10 months, ostensibly manufacturing screwdrivers.Then, on September 13, the Saharanpur Police in Uttar Pradesh intercepted five of the men and recovered six heavy machines from them. The group was in the process of moving the equipment from Sonipat to Uttar Pradesh to avoid detection when they were arrested, police say. Only then was it revealed that they were not manufacturing screwdrivers but counterfeit Rs 20 coins.The bust comes amid a rise in counterfeit banknotes detected in India, from 2,17,396 in 2024-25 to 2,29,746 in 2025-26. While these figures relate to banknotes, the Saharanpur case highlights the scale of the manufacture and circulation of counterfeit coins.Unlike banknotes, which are issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), coins are minted by the Government of India under the Coinage Act, 2011, at government units in Mumbai, Kolkata, Noida and Hyderabad. The RBI is responsible for putting the coins into circulation. The Saharanpur Police in Uttar Pradesh intercepted five of the men and recovered six heavy machines from them. (Express pHOTO)As counterfeit notes are under constant scrutiny of law enforcement agencies across the country, counterfeit coins have emerged as a new avenue for criminals.The accused claimed to have circulated fake coins worth more than Rs 70 crore, a figure police are yet to verify.Story continues below this adThe Saharanpur raid followed earlier counterfeit-coin manufacturing busts in Delhi and Haryana in 2016 and 2019.Under the law, producing fake currency is an offence that can invite a maximum of life imprisonment.How the police op unfoldedIt was an informer who had alerted the Saharanpur police that three men were looking for a space of around 500 square feet. They wanted to install six heavy machines, ostensibly to manufacture tools.The informer also described the men as suspicious.Police intercepted the men in the Titron area: Upkar Luthra alias Abhay Pratap Singh, 62; and Himanshu alias Gullu from Saharanpur and Kuldeep from Muzaffarnagar, both in their 30s.Story continues below this adWhen they questioned the three, it emerged that two of their associates — Santosh Chaurasia alias Janardhan of Madhubani in Bihar, and Anurag Pal alias Lankesh of Sant Ravidas Nagar in UP — were waiting at a nearby crossing in separate four-wheelers.Police rushed to the spot, apprehended them, and recovered the heavy machinery from inside the two vehicles. They also found 6,400 counterfeit Rs 20 coins, with a face value of Rs 1.28 lakh, semi-finished coins estimated to be worth around Rs 5 lakh.The group, police say, had been operating out of Sonipat until one of its associates was arrested by the Delhi Police.Fearing a raid, Upkar and the others shut down the Sonipat unit, which had served as a front for manufacturing screwdrivers, an officer tells The Indian Express.Story continues below this adIn their haste to move the equipment, the accused had not scouted for a new location, police say.According to police, Upkar told investigators that Himanshu had assured him he would arrange land in Saharanpur. The group travelled there on that assurance to look for suitable premises.The accused also told police that they had allegedly installed the machines at different locations across India, including Delhi, and moved whenever they feared a police crackdown.Police say Upkar was a repeat offender — a background check revealed he had previously been arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with the manufacture of counterfeit coins.Story continues below this adInvestigating officer and station house officer Rajeev Kumar Kaushik says he was the key figure behind the operation.“He had earlier worked as a goldsmith and used the skills he had acquired to experiment with counterfeit coins, gradually refining the process to make them resemble genuine ones,” Kaushik says.Police say Upkar met Himanshu in Tihar Jail, and the two later built the network. Other members allegedly joined after meeting them in different jails.How were the coins made?Police say the accused allegedly used the six heavy machines, iron dies and other equipment to manufacture counterfeit Rs 20 coins.Story continues below this adDuring questioning, the accused allegedly told police that they first procured coin-sized rings made from a mixture of aluminium, copper and nickel from a unit in Delhi. Then, dies replicating Rs 20 coins were specially ordered from another Delhi-based unit.Then came the manufacturing process. “The dies were pressed onto the rings, after which the machines were used to refine the coins, giving them a brighter finish and a more precise circular shape,” says a police officer.During the raid, police also recovered 39 unmarked and 20 marked dies, a die-polishing machine, two grinding stones, four brushes, eight files, five hammers, an iron-cutting saw, two pipe wrenches, a vice, 16 wrenches, six spanners, a screwdriver, a pair of pliers and a Vernier caliper.“The accused claimed they could manufacture 10,000 to 12,000 counterfeit coins a day — each coin cost around Rs 5 to 6 apiece to manufacture. However, we could not verify the claim because the machines were not running when the equipment was recovered in Saharanpur,” says the officer.Story continues below this adThe accused told police that work at the factory had been divided among them — Upkar oversaw the finishing of coins, Santosh Chaurasia handled the manufacturing process, Anurag Pal managed the factory’s overall operations, while Kuldeep and Himanshu were tasked with overseeing the circulation of the coins. Except for Santosh and Pal, all the other accused are married.How fake coins entered the marketDuring questioning, the accused allegedly told police that they supplied counterfeit coins to intermediaries in packets of 100. They reportedly offered coins with a face value of Rs 200 for Rs 160.“These packets were then given to youths, who were instructed to circulate the coins at toll plazas, in small towns, at liquor shops and at other small shops in villages,” says a police officer.The youth were allegedly unaware that the coins were counterfeit, with the accused giving them the impression that they simply had large quantities of coins they wanted to offload.Story continues below this adPolice say the network allegedly extended across several states, including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. “The accused claimed they had so far circulated counterfeit coins worth more than Rs 70 crore in the market,” says SSP, Saharanpur, Abhinandan.Two earlier cases in Delhi and FaridabadIn October 2016, Delhi Police busted three counterfeit coin manufacturing units in Delhi and Haryana within 10 days, recovering fake coins with a face value of Rs 12.24 lakh — Upkar was allegedly involved in this case, along with his brother Swikaar Luthra alias Sonu (please verify with Saharanpur cops).One of the units was operating out of a factory in Bawana, on the capital’s outskirts, where six hydraulic machines were used to manufacture fake Rs 5 and Rs 10 coins. The operation had been running for around six months.Police say the accused had initially set up a Teflon-coating business to avoid suspicion before switching to counterfeit coins. Aluminium and brass sheets were cut at a separate nearby factory, and the pieces were then pressed together using hydraulic machines and dies. The coins were packed in gunny bags and sent out for distribution.The investigation began after police arrested a man in Rohini with counterfeit coins worth Rs 40,000. He allegedly told investigators that the Luthra brothers were running the Bawana unit.In May 2019, Faridabad Police’s Crime Branch uncovered another counterfeit coin operation in the Ganpati Dham Industrial Area of Bahadurgarh, Haryana.The factory had been rented under the pretext of manufacturing thermocol plates. Police first intercepted a vehicle on Surajkund Road and recovered 50,000 counterfeit Rs 5 coins from packets hidden beneath the passenger seats.A subsequent raid at the factory recovered another 50,000 coins, some still being manufactured. Police also found a second unit in the same industrial area during follow-up investigations and seized machines and equipment used to make the coins.Post scriptSaharanpur police recently went to Madhubani in Bihar and raided a hideout. In this joint operation with Bihar police, another accused, Mithlesh Chaurasia (55), was arrested and brought back to Saharanpur. Police said Chaurasia was associated with the group and allegedly arranging raw material and labourers. Mithlesh is brother of Santosh Chaurasia, who was arrested earlier.With the arrest of Mithlesh, the total number of people arrested in the case has now risen to six, investigating officer Rajeev Kumar Kaushik said. “Another group member Paras Jain was arrested by Delhi police in September”.