“Hang my son if he is guilty,” said Sajiz Khan, the father of the mastermind of the fake currency racket who was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police last week.

The UP police arrested Zahir Khan on August 28 while conducting a raid in Prayagraj.

Later, the police revealed that Zahir, who is from the Bhadrak district of Odisha, was the mastermind of the racket. The police seized 1,300 fake 100-rupee notes, a laptop, a printer, two bundles of bound paper, 234 printed pages (uncut) and one bundle of loose paper from Zahir and his other gang members.

The police have also found some literature and books that condemn the activities of the RSS. According to the police, the gang used to provide fake notes with a face value of ₹45,000 in exchange for genuine notes of ₹15,000.

Zahir hails from Basudevpur, a small town in Bhadrak district. After his arrest was made public, the crestfallen father said: “My son was never a good student. I hoped his luck would change, so I sent him to a madrasa in Prayagraj. I thought his attitude towards studies would change and he would concentrate on his studies. But I never expected that he would be arrested for printing fake notes."

The father said he was disturbed by his son's behaviour and did not speak to him for the past seven to eight months. "I did not speak because he left the house taking ₹30,000 from my box without informing me. He wanted to be rich. Three months ago, he came home and met his mother and the other family members. Everything was normal.”

Stating that the police have not contacted him yet, the father said: “Let the police take appropriate action if he is really involved in such activities. Several lawyers from UP called me and assured their support. But I tell them that he has not won any gold medal.”