Monday, May 22, 2017

Fake Rs 2,000 notes printing racket busted in Dhaka; NIA suspects Pakistan link

Recently busted in Dhaka in Bangladesh, a racket in fake Indian currency notes has raised concerns to the Indian investigators that the arrested people can also be involved in the supply of fake Rs 2,000 notes last year that happened soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of old Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,00 notes in the country. As per a report by Indian Express, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has submitted its report to the Union Home Ministry which hints strong connections between the arrested Bangladeshi nationals and a Pakistani national identified as Danish. Danish reportedly was involved in supplying of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) to the leader of a similar group caught in Bangladesh, Shamsul Haque.
As per officials, Haque has been involved in the FICN racket for about eight years along with Danish and his wife. Speaking to Indian Express, an official aware of the development in the case said, “From an examination of the seizures, it is clear that they have not been able to counterfeit the features of the currency introduced after demonetisation.” The official also stated that the NIA is now probing possible Pakistan connections and have requested more details from their counterparts in Dhaka.
The report also informed that the seizures included six pages of totally printed fake Rs 2,000 notes, 24 pages of partially printed FICN, colour printers and a fake currency cutting machine made up of iron and wood.
As per the investigation, a suspect named Mohd Sobuj Motur who was arrested in Mumbai last year was too part of the same racket. Motur was caught by the Mumbai Police and the case was later handed over to the NIA. Following the raids conducted by the NIA on the Indo-Bangla border, Indian Express had reported about laundering of Rs 2,000 notes across the border, last year.
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The NIA arrested the racket in April this year and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police busted a group that was suspected of printing and circulating fake Indian currency notes across borders. The report also stated that a sum of Rs 15,34,000 in the denomination of Rs 2,000 (new), Rs 1,000 (old) and Rs 500 (old) was seized during the recently conducted raids.
As per Indian Express, others who were arrested during the raids were Mohd Bul Bul Ahmmad, 42; Md Shaheen Akhtar, 30; Mohd Kairul Islam, 38 and Alamgir Hossan, 28. All of them are Bangladeshi nationals. The group was operational from a rented house in Mohammadpur in Dhaka and currency notes were sold to Indian citizens through Noor Mohd and Jamal of Shivjganj, an area bordering to Chanpainbabganj in Bangladesh.
Source: Financial express