Chennai: A 24-year-old man from West Bengalhas been arrested for alleged possession of fake Indian currency notes with a total face value of Rs 88,000, police said today.

Partha Pathru was arrested yesterday when he tried to buy a pack of cigarettes, trying to exchange a Rs 1,000 fake note, they said.

The shopkeeper grew suspicious and alerted a local beat constable who managed to detain him, police said in a release, adding, a police team later arrested him.  Police seized the fake notes and three mobile phones from him.

In a separate case, seven women hailing from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, and forced into prostitution were rescued from different parts of the city, police said.  Four women were arrested in this connection and remanded to judicial custody, they said.  The rescued women have been sent to a Government home.