“It's a major racket having links to Surat. The Local Crime Branch (LCB) busted it with the help of informers,” said Amreli Superintendent of Police Sandeep Singh, adding that a case has been lodged in this regard .

Following a tip-off, the LCB stopped two persons — Mansukh Dhanji, an LIC agent, and Lalji Koli, a cable operator — when they were moving on a motorcycle with a black bag in the village on Wednesday. When the police examined the notes in the bag, they found them to be all fake.

The police said the three are residents of Savarkundla, while the kingpin, who is yet to be arrested, is based in Surat and belongs to Amreli.

Preliminary investigations have revealed the involvement of a fifth person, also from Savarkundla. The notes were printed in Surat and supplied to Amreli.

Further interrogation of the duo revealed their links to one Naresh Hirpara, who belongs to Pichava village and is now settled in Surat as a diamond worker, and one Ghanshyam Patel, a resident of Rabarika village.

The police also recovered 237 notes of Rs 100 denomination from Patel.