The bedroom of the two-room flat in Turag look like a run-of-the-mill bedroom of middle-class family. No visitor would suspect anything seeing a bed at one side and a computer table with a PC and printer on the other side.

Despite the appearance, it was not an unremarkable home. In fact, it was not a home at all. It was a factory for making fake notes. 

A man and a woman, members of a gang, had been living there pretending to be a couple. They had been stashing fake note making materials and equipment inside the box-type bed during the day and making fake bills at night with the help of other members of the gang.

Following a tip-off, detectives busted the fake-note factory Friday afternoon and arrested six gang members. They seized the materials, equipment, and Tk 51 lakh in fake notes, detectives said.

The seized materials could have been used to produce Tk 7 crore in counterfeit bank notes, Sumon Kanti Chowdhury, senior assistant commissioner of Detective Branch (North Division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star.

The police officer claimed that the arrestees admitted that they circulate Tk 1 crore in forged notes every month and that they had been at it for four years.

The gang had a plan to circulate around Tk 8 crore in counterfeit notes ahead of upcoming national elections, said Deputy Commissioner Mashiur Rahman of DB (North Division) of the DMP. 

According to him, it cost the gang Tk 10,000 to make Tk 1 lakh in fake notes. They used to sell Tk 1 lakh in fake money to wholesales for Tk 15,000 and to retailers for Tk 40,000.

The arrestees are: Abul Hossain alias Emon, Sheikh Sumon, Sogir Ahmed, Iqbal Hossain, Tawkir Ahmed, and Swapna.

According to detectives, Emon was a top fake note producer. He got involved in the illicit business in 2013. He had been arrested once but resumed his activity getting out on bail.

He used to circulate the notes mainly in Dhaka, Chattogram, Gazipur and Narsingdi.

Sogir and Iqbal were caught when they went there to buy the fake bills.