By IANS
Kolkata : Three people were arrested here Friday for their involvement in a coin melting racket, police said.
Police raided a foundry at Shimla Street in north Kolkata's Girish Park that was being used for melting coins and arrested three people.
"We have recovered 183 kg of coins. When we visited the foundry coins were being melted in the furnace," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Ajay Ranade said.
The molten material was turned into bars and smuggled to Bangladesh where finished products like blades and razors were made out of them, police said.
"The coins are turned into bars and then smuggled across the border. A blade in Bangladesh costs around Rs. 4 and from one Re. 1 coin three to four blades can be made," Ranade said.
"We are trying to bust the entire racket and arrest others," he said.
"Aluminium and zinc are costlier in the market and so to melt the coins and turn them into bars for making blades is cheaper," police said.
West Bengal shares a 2,216 km long border with Bangladesh.