March 8, 2008 Fake Currency Racket
in Bangladesh
Sets Police on LeT trail By Soudhriti Bhabani
Kolkata
West Bengal Police are tracking a fake currency racket operating out
of Bangladesh for channelling funds to terrorist groups like
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) to carry out subversive activities across
India.
With the arrest of four men including three Kashmiris on the charge
of carrying fake currency Tuesday, West Bengal Police claim to have
learnt of the presence of an international counterfeit currency
racket operating out of Bangladesh and used by Pakistan-based
terrorist modules to fund strikes on Indian soil.
"We are assuming that these fake currencies are coming from
Bangladesh through agents. The three Kashmiri people came here to
collect the counterfeit currency. According to our information, many
Pakistan-based terrorist modules, mainly Lashkar-e-Toiba, use these
bogus currencies to fund their subversive activities in Kashmir and
other parts of India," a senior state police official told IANS.
He said the police are now carrying out further investigations to
find out more about the network.
Four people, including three Kashmiri linkmen, were arrested March 4
from Baharampur in Murshidabad district of West Bengal with bogus
currency.
Police said a number of local youths are involved in this fake
currency racket in Murshidabad district. Hafizul Rahman, a local
youth of Beldanga area in Murshidabad, and three outsiders - Mansur
Ahmed, Mohammad Yusuf and Firoz Ahmed - were arrested. They were
produced before a local court, which remanded them in police
custody.
According to army intelligence inputs, organised international
groups of criminals based abroad, particularly in neighbouring
countries, have taken up the activity of printing and circulating
fake Indian currency notes with a view to financing terrorists,
trafficking of drugs and smuggling in arms and explosives for the
purpose of destabilising the economy of the country.
These counterfeit currencies come to India through Assam and West
Bengal and finally reach the rural areas of Kashmir.
Police said Pakistan-based operatives were pushing fake currency
into India through a wide network of their associates based in
Thailand, Nepal and Bangladesh.
"The fake currencies are generally used by Pakistan-based terrorist
organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba. It's believed that these currencies
come from Bangladesh side through several middlemen and flood the
Indian market," defence spokesperson R.K. Das told IANS.
India shares a 4,095-km-long border with Bangladesh, including 2,216
km along West Bengal, part of which is porous, unfenced and prone to
frequent infiltration.
He said it's not necessary that the fake currencies are sent to
Kashmir all the time but may be supplied to Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad
and many other parts of the country.
"We are keeping a close watch on this network across the country.
Investigations are continuing," Das said.
During the bi-annual border conference between India and Bangladesh,
which was held in Dhaka last October, Border Security Force (BSF)
Director General A.K. Mitra also discussed the cross-border fake
currency issue with his Bangladeshi counterpart.
Both the countries had agreed to build up a joint mechanism to curb
this growing menace.
The BSF seized counterfeit Indian currency worth Rs.500,000 from the
border areas in 2007.
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