Lucknow: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two alleged key conspirators in a counterfeit currency racket after fake Indian currency notes with valued at Rs 17.29 crore were recovered from the Punjab National Bank (PNB) currency chest in Saharanpur.The agency arrested Ajay Kumar from Ambala on Oct 16 and Harish Rounta from Manali on Oct 22.The two are alleged to be among the principal conspirators involved in the illegal printing and supply of large quantities of counterfeit Indian currency notes, the NIA said in a statement.According to investigators, the counterfeit notes were routed through several accused before being deposited in the PNB currency chest at the bank’s Civil Lines branch in Saharanpur. The NIA said the arrested men were close associates of Adesh Choudhary and others already held in the case and were part of a conspiracy to introduce counterfeit currency into the banking system.The case came to light on Aug 29, when the Sadar bazaar police station in Saharanpur received information about the recovery of counterfeit notes worth Rs 17.29 crore from the PNB currency chest. During the preliminary inquiry, the involvement of three bank employees also came to light, following which the bank suspended them, the agency said.An FIR was registered at Sadar Bazaar police station in Saharanpur on Aug 29.The NIA re-registered the case on Sept 3 and took over the investigation to probe the wider network behind the placement and circulation of the counterfeit currency.Earlier, the agency arrested five accused: Amit Kumar on Sept 7, Adesh Choudhary on Sept 15, Mukesh Kumar on Sept 20, and Rajender and Nitu on Sept 22.The NIA said the investigation is continuing to trace the supply chain, examine how the fake notes were allegedly printed and transported, and identify other suspects involved in the operation.