Patna, April 12: The city has become a printing press for fake judicial stamp papers that are distributed all over the country, senior police officers said here today.

The police last night raided a house on Exhibition Road and recovered fake judicial stamp papers worth almost Rs 1 crore. These papers look exactly like their original counterparts with the Ashokan pillar neatly embalmed on it. Police said the embalming and the special quality paper could have been prepared in Nepal.

The cops swung into action after receiving a tip-off from the Special Task Force (STF) at Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar said: “An STF team based in Indore contacted us regarding this. They had arrested two men dealing in fake judicial stamp papers. The arrested men informed the STF personnel that the source of these fake documents was Patna.”

The SSP said: “Personnel of the STF team from Indore came down to Patna and a special team was formed to arrest the suppliers of the fake stamp papers.”

The two men arrested on Monday are Arjun Singh and kingpin of the gang Shekhar Priyadarshi, said a police officer.

“The policemen posed as customers and contacted Singh. They demanded stamp papers worth Rs 10 lakh. After being arrested, he told the police about the place on Exhibition Road, where the fake judicial stamp papers are manufactured. The police team raided the place last night and nabbed Priyadarshi, a resident of Bakarganj area,” Shivdeep Lande, city superintendent of police, told The Telegraph.

During interrogations, the men confessed to delivering stamp papers to different cities around the country. The police officer added that more people, including some big shots, could be involved in this racket.

“This may be just the tip of the iceberg. We are making efforts to flush them out,” the officer said.