Origin of fake currency in India: Islamic economic terrorism by Pakistan

It is estimated that around 1,69,000 crores of fake rupees are in circulation all over India. Both Banks and Government are in a denial mode, because probably they do not know what to do.

September 06, 2009

Fake currency and its linkage with crime
Origin of fake currency and its use
By Joginder Singh, IPS (Retd)

It is estimated that around 1,69,000 crores of fake rupees are in circulation all over India. Both Banks and Government are in a denial mode, because probably they do not know what to do.

India has become the victim of an other kind of terrorism from its neighbour, Pakistan. It is economic terrorism in printing and circulating counterfeit Indian notes. The Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI’s role in printing and circulation of fake Indian currency notes has never been a secret.

On its insistence, Pakistan Government has imported additional currency-standard printing paper from companies located in London to pursue its nefarious designs in India. Of late, Pakistan has been procuring currency-standard printing paper in huge quantities from London-based companies much higher than normal requirement of the country for printing its own currency. It is diverting it, to print fake Indian currency notes. It is believed that Pakistan Government printing press in Quetta (Baluchistan) Karachi’s security press, and two other presses in Lahore and Peshawar, are being used to print out counterfeit Indian currency.

The ISI has, been using Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to transport counterfeit currency to its conduits in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The modus operandi of the ISI was revealed by two Nepali counterfeit currency traffickers who were arrested by Thailand police sometimes back. During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they were working for a prominent Nepali businessman. The fact that Nepali territory is being used by Pakistanis to smuggle counterfeit currency is well known. The first such expose was made when Pakistani diplomats were caught distributing fake Indian currency notes. One Naushad Alam Khan, arrested in Dhaka on April 24, 2008, with fake Indian currency notes worth Rs 50 lakh admitted his direct link with HuJI (Bangladesh) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan. It was found that both Khan and Hannan had fought for Taliban in Afghanistan.

Fake Indian currency notes racket is being carried out by using the network of underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim, not only in India but also in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal in close association with different terror outfits, according to one intelligence report. With Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh being active partners, with India in probing fake Indian currency notes (FICN) related cases, it is safe to assume that so far as the fake currency in India is concerned, its source is Pakistan.

Delhi police claims, to have busted a major ISI network, sometimes back, which was reportedly being used to pushing fake currency into our country. Three arrested men, by name, Nayeem, Wasim and Mohammed Muslim, have revealed that Thar Express, so called, friendship train, running between Munnabao in Pakistan and Jodhpur in Rajasthan, was being used to smuggle fake currency into India . Investigation, uncovered, that the fake currency was arranged in Dubai. Fake currency to the extent of Rs 33 lakh was seized from them. They have confirmed that the Indian currency is printed in Pakistan and illegally pushed in India through Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand.

The menace of finely printed currency has achieved new heights, that quite often, the customers do get fake currencies through ATMs. The worst is that when they approach banks with the complain of receiving a fake note, bank official impound the notes. As per the law of land, the bank should lodge an FIR with police, which would investigate the source of the fake currency. Banks obviously have not been to cope with the problem.

According to one Government committee estimate, counterfeit currency amounting to Rs 169,000 crore is floating around in the Indian financial system. This has been denied by the Reserve Bank of India. From real estate transactions to ordinary grocery shopping, paying to sources and terrorist’s expenses, these bogus notes are being used. Even if this figure is taken 20 to 25 per cent, as correct, it is still a huge amount, and sufficient to damage India’s economy. “In 2008, the CBI registered 13 cases having international/ inter-State ramifications relating to the recovery/ seizure of fake Indian currency notes,”

According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), between January and August 2008, 1,170 cases had been registered across the country in connection with fake currency. Bogus notes with a face value of Rs 3.63 crore had been seized. NCRB data shows 2,204 such cases were reported in 2007.

Investigations into the Mumbai 26/11 attacks have revealed that a large part of the money to fund the terror operation were obtained through fake currency rackets and hawala channels.

It is also believed that Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence raises Rs 1,800 crore (Rs 18 billion) annually to fund terror operations and that a major chunk of this amount comes in through fake currency rackets.

Intelligence sources believe that Rs 30 lakh of the Rs 50 lakh spent, on the attack on the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, in December 2005 was obtained through the fake currency racket. This is big menace, which should be tackled with no holds barred, even if it means walking with the devil till we have decimated this problem.

Fake currency and its linkage with crime

It is rightly said, that the poor of the world, cannot be made richer by redistribution of wealth. But, there are some, who seek a short cut, to riches through crime and use of counterfeit currency. Criminals believe, that whatever is worth doing is worth doing for the money. Nevertheless, the truth is that the wealth is the product of industry, ambition, character and untiring effort. The Special Task Force, (STF) of Uttar Pradesh, last year claimed to have busted a major international racket involved, in supply of fake currency notes.

It seized counterfeit Indian currency worth a face value of Rs 16 lakh. The gang leader, arrested in Lucknow with three of his aides, has confessed to have pumped into circulation over Rs 2 crore in counterfeit currency in India in about two months. The gang members arrested have been identified as Suhail Singh alias Ram Shanker Singh of Sikahira locality under Khodare police station of Gonda-the gang leader-along with Sharma Paswan, Vinod Kumar Misra and Sanjay Kumar Patel, all natives of Champaran in Bihar.

The gang was using a set of six women couriers from Champaran in Bihar and another set of four hailing from Nepal. The fake currency notes had a different serial number. It showed, that they had not merely been printed from a scanned image of a genuine note by using coloured scanners and printers. In case the miscreants scan a genuine note and print copies of it, the serial number of such counterfeit currency notes remain the same. Putting a different serial number on each note explains that the counterfeit currency was being printed at a very large scale.

During interrogation, the accused revealed that the counterfeit currency notes travelled to Uttar Pradesh from Nepal from two different routes: From Nepal to UP via Bihar and directly to UP particularly through Sidhartnagar and Maharajganj route. A Rs 1,000 denomination note was bought at the rate of Rs 500 to Rs 600 each while the Rs 500 denomination was bought for Rs 300 to Rs 400 each.

According to the accused, counterfeit currency notes of smaller denomination-like those of Rs 100 and Rs 50, were also available, but at a higher cost, as compared to the bigger denominations. The reason given was that putting the bigger notes into circulation was more risky. The gang used private vehicles to cross the Nepal borders while the rest of the movement was done preferably on public transport. To minimise suspicion, women couriers, particularly those with young children, were preferred to carry the counterfeit currency notes within India and were paid two per cent of the total face value of the counterfeit notes. A male shadow was also used to trail the couriers to ensure that they were not trapped by the police.

It is estimated that around 1,69,000 crores of fake rupees are in circulation all over India. Both Banks and Government are in a denial mode, because probably they do not know what to do.

(The writer is former Director CBI and can be contacted at jogindersinghfdips@hotmail.com)

Nepal’s former prince Paras, kingpin of fake currency: ATS racket

Nepal ex-prince kingpin of fake notes racket?
Suchandana Gupta, TNN 1 September 2009

BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh anti-terror squad on Monday arrested two Nepalese with fake Indian currency notes interrogated, made the startling disclosure that the kingpin of the racket was none other than Nepal’s former crown prince, Paras, as well as the son of a former Nepalese minister, Salim Mian Ansari. ( Watch Video )

In fact, Rajesh Gupta and Ateeq Ahmad, both Nepalese citizens, alleged that former King Gyanendra Singh’s son was working with Pakistan’s ISI and Mumbai underworld don, Dawood Ibrahim, reportedly hiding in Karachi. Salim Mian Ansari is a former forest minister of that country.

Both Gupta (42) and Ahmad (43) were trying to board a Gorakhpur-bound train at Bhopal railway station on Saturday when the cops swooped down on them, and caught them with 22 FICN of Rs 500 denomination. The notes were printed in Nepal.

“This is the first time we have caught fake note smugglers red-handed in Madhya Pradesh,” said deputy inspector general, ATS, Pawan Shrivastava. Sources in the state police headquarters said that the finance ministry and Central investigating agencies have been informed of the stunning disclosures made by the arrested Nepali citizens.

The role of Paras and Yunus Ansari is being further probed. Both Gupta and Ahmad have told the police that Ansari is the main link to ISI and D-company in Nepal. He is also a business partner of King Gyanendra’s son Paras. Intelligence agencies in India have always been intrigued about the exact businesses of Ansari.

Rajesh and Ahmad are businessmen who are considered the third level operators in the FICN racket. Police said there are five-levels in the operation starting with the masterminds based in Pakistan and Nepal. The last line is mostly petty criminals in India’s metros and other cities. Ahmad was a resident of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. Twelve years ago, he married a girl in Nepal and got the citizenship of the Himalayan state. He settled sown in Birganj, the largest town in Nepal’s Terai region in the south-east part of the country close to Raxaul. Raxaul and Birganj have been known to be the transit points of FICN. Gupta, too, lives in Kathmandu.

“It’s an intricate network. The ISI has recruited large number of agents like Gupta and Ahmad who push crores of fake currency notes across the open borders of Nepal,” said ATS chief Shrivastava. Rajesh Gupta and Ateeq Ahmad brought the fake currency notes to Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. They were in touch with at least 40 persons in Madhya Pradesh who work as their last link in the racket. The two have been remanded in police custody until September 8.

169,000 crore counterfeit currency in India, pose serious threat to worth of Indian Rupee

“According to a recent Government estimate, counterfeit currency amounting to Rs 169,000 crore is floating around in the Indian financial system.”

Fake notes, real problem
dailypioneer.com
Sunday, January 18, 2009

To what degree is counterfeit Indian currency becoming an instrument for terror networks? Saswat Panigrahi goes investigating, and returns alarmed

The use of “supernotes” — counterfeit currency or fake rupees — by terrorist syndicates could be seriously undermining India’s war against terror. A smart replica of an authentic note, prepared using the same paper and the same ink, counterfeit currency could seriously devalue the real worth of the Indian currency.

The idea is not a new one. Historically, nations have used the counterfeiting of money as a means of warfare. Britain did this during the American War of Independence, to reduce the value of the Continental dollar. The United States did it during the Civil War against the rebellious Southern States. Times have changed. Now counterfeiting of money has become an ingredient of the terror agenda.

According to a recent Government estimate, counterfeit currency amounting to Rs 169,000 crore is floating around in the Indian financial system. From real estate transactions to ordinary grocery shopping, these bogus notes are being deployed everyday — sometimes innocently, sometimes with a sinister objective. “In 2008, the CBI registered 13 cases having international/ inter-State ramifications relating to the recovery/ seizure of fake Indian currency notes,” says Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) spokesperson Harsh Bhal.

According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), between January and August 2008, 1,170 cases had been registered across the country in connection with fake currency. Bogus notes with a face value of Rs 3.63 crore had been seized. NCRB data shows 2,204 such cases were reported in 2007.

Intelligence agencies see the counterfeit rupee attack as a form of “economic terrorism”. They have traced many of the fake currency operations back to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and its ancillary crime syndicates such as the Dawood Ibrahim gang. With a multi-layered network in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka and also inside India, counterfeit notes enter India in all three ways — through land, sea and air.

Intelligence officials say the ISI uses terrorist groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT), the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) to smuggle and circulate counterfeit currency in India.

A large chunk of fake currency comes in through India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. The frontier with Pakistan in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and the porous border with Bangladesh in West Bengal, Assam and the Northeast make for entry points. The Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border with Nepal is another route for the inflow of fake currency.

Sea-borne consignments also turn up in Tamil Nadu (from Sri Lanka) and in Gujarat (from Pakistan). Additionally, bogus notes are flown in from Dubai.

Local criminal networks are activated for the purpose. In Rajasthan, for instance, fake currency operations are closely linked to satta (gambling) and opium smuggling. Indirectly, this drug smuggling ends up financing terrorism in Pakistan.

In Dubai, two key Dawood lieutenants — Aftab Bhakti and Babu Gaithan — run operations. The money is transported to India in regular flights, through ordinary passengers. Indian labourers who work in Dubai are the usual targets. The racketeers focus on those who are in need of money to purchase return tickets. They arrange tickets and ask for a favour: “Deliver our cargo to India.”

The passengers are handed ordinary suitcases, with perhaps perfume bottles and clothes packed inside. A false bottom conceals the fake currency, wrapped in carbon paper or hidden in photo albums. From Dubai, the fake currency consignments reach two major transit points — Mumbai and Hyderabad.

In India, counterfeit currency has long been seen as a source of funding for terrorism. Investigations into at least four cases — the Hyderabad bombings of August 2007; the attack on the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in December 2005; the Ahmedabad bombings of July 2008; and the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai — revealed a link.

Dangerously, the counterfeiters have managed to find their way into the official banking system. “Perhaps there is no better way to pummel India’s economy,” says an intelligence official. He explains the modus operandi. Fake currency operatives usually deposit the notes during peak hours when bank tellers are pressed for time and liable to make mistakes.

A few months ago, fake currency amounting to nearly Rs 3 crore was found in the chest of the State Bank of India’s Domariaganj branch in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddarthnagar district. Some fake notes were also found in the currency chest of ICICI Bank’s Sanjay Place branch in Agra. The examples can go on.

Where are the fake notes printed? A CBI report to the Finance Ministry suggested that the Pakistan Government printing press in Quetta (Baluchistan) was churning out large quantities of counterfeit Indian currency.

Karachi’s security press, and two other presses in Lahore and Peshawar, have also been suspected.

Reports say the paper for the fake notes is sourced from London. Indian investigators also allege the Pakistani Government imports currency-standard printing paper far in excess of official needs. The extra quantum is handed over to the ISI, it is believed.

The fine quality of Pakistan-produced fake currency has alarmed India. Printed on security paper, the sophistication and craftsmanship is of a high order. “Only a specialist can make out the notes as counterfeit,” says an intelligence official. The fake notes duplicate serial numbers and floral designs of genuine notes. In addition, they even have the security wire or “guide wire” — the common man’s mode of authenticating a currency note.

However, there remain some printing misalignments. The Reserve Bank of India has issued guidelines containing features, which can help the common man establish whether the currency is fake or genuine (see graphic).

So far the Government of India has not been able to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to check the entry and spread of fake currency. On their part, security agencies are clamouring for intense scrutiny of India’s banking system. They are not sure what it hides.

The RBI is contemplating enhancing security features in Indian rupee notes. It also proposes to withdraw all currency notes printed between 1996 and 2000 and gradually introducing a new series of currency notes. Serial numbers of notes printed in that period have tended to be used most by counterfeiters.

However, in the larger reckoning, the problem remains. If and when India does decide to take action against Pakistan-based terror, it may find that it is not enough to destroy merely military camps. A certain currency printing press in Quetta may also need to be blown up!

Pakistani terrorists using Malaysia as transit point for fake rupees

NST Online
Pakistani terrorists using Malaysia as transit point for fake rupees
Balan Moses reporting from Chennai

PAKISTANI terrorists are using Malaysia as a transit point for the movement of counterfeit Indian rupees into India to destabilise the country.

Indian Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis senior researcher Brigadier S.K. Saini said the transfer of fake notes had been going on for some time but had worsened in the last five years.

“The latest incident occurred in October last year when Indian authorities intercepted a large consignment of fake Indian rupees en route from Malaysia to India.”

He declined to state the exact amount involved but said the overall figure from Malaysia and other countries ran into billions of rupees.

Saini said the movement of counterfeit currency continued unchecked despite concerted efforts by Indian and Malaysian authorities.

“The Pakistani elements behind this racket are doing this to create confusion and destabilise India,” he told the New Straits Times.

It is understood that counterfeit rupees are also being smuggled into India from Nepal and Bangladesh.

Saini said the Pakistanis behind the activity were engaging in “economic terrorism” by undermining the buoyant Indian economy.

He said Pakistani terrorists who used to smuggle the counterfeit notes across the Pakistan-India border had stopped doing so because of tighter border controls.

He said the notes were printed in Pakistan, which had equipment to produce high quality fake currency.

Saini said the terrorists’ objective were two-pronged — to undermine the Indian fiscal sector and set up legitimate companies and businesses to fund their terrorist activities in India. He said the fake notes were of such high quality that even experts in India could not tell them apart.

“We are working with the Malaysian authorities on a more concerted basis to put an end to this illegal activity.”

On why Malaysia had been chosen for this activity, he said it was because of the huge number of people travelling between Malaysia and India.

“Malaysia was on our intelligence radar well before the Nov 26 attack by Pakistani terrorist in Mumbai. We are continuing to monitor Malaysia in terms of it being used as transit point for Pakistani terrorists.”

High quality fake Indian rupees being printed in Karachi

IB alert on ISI’s fake rupees
Dec 17, 2008, By Pramod Kumar
New Delhi

Dec. 16: The Intelligence Bureau has alerted the CBI and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence that “high quality” fake Indian rupees were being printed in Karachi, Lahore Quetta and parts of Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province, and that it suspected that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence was providing technology and other assistance to the counterfeiters.

Senior ISI officials are understood to be involved in this plot, the Intelligence Bureau has warned. Most of these fake notes are believed to be of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations.

The government has sounded an alert, and the DRI and the CBI has been warned that such fake currency was likely to be smuggled into India through Dubai, Nepal, Thailand and Bangladesh.

A senior IB official said the ISI was also trying to sneak in hundreds of crores in fake Indian currency through the sea routes, particularly the Colombo-Chennai link, as well as by air.

The Pakistan-India direct railway links are also likely to be used, he said. The railway police and state governments have been alerted to keep a particular watch on the Thar Express, which shuttles between Munabao in Barmer, Rajasthan, and Khokhrapar in Sindh, Pakistan; and the Samjhauta Express in this regard.

Claiming that it could be “difficult” for ordinary citizens to identify these high-quality fakes, the IB official said his organisation had “inputs that the printing quality of fake notes was high, and it could be difficult to distinguish between the fakes and the real notes.”

The official added: “In its effort to destabilise the Indian economy by pumping in fake currency, Pakistan’s ISI is providing all possible help for printing high-quality fake notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. We have reports that the ISI is providing high-quality imported paper.”

The Enforcement Directorate recently foiled an ISI attempt to smuggle fake notes into India by sea, from Colombo to Chennai, and arrested four persons. Sheikh Abdul Qadar, one of those arrested, was found with fake currency with a face value of Rs 45 lakhs. He received the consignment in Colombo, where it had been sent via Dubai.

64 blasts, six states in six months, 200 dead, 900 injured: Large Islamic plot to destabilise Mother India

Is it a plot to destabilise India?
Josy Joseph
Saturday, November 01, 2008  04:32 IST

NEW DELHI: Is there a large conspiracy to destabilise the country? Some in the security establishment believe so, given that there were 64 blasts in six states in less than six months, which left over 200 dead and almost 900 injured, besides communalising society.

These blasts would also shake up international investor confidence and the common man’s trust in the country.

At least one international risk analysis group today said India was the biggest victim of terrorism among the major investment destinations. Outside of Afghanistan and Iraq, the country was among the biggest victims of terrorist attacks in recent months, the group said.

What is making it worse is the extreme inefficiency of the police and intelligence agencies, and the warring political leadership. Instead of getting caught up in the nitty-gritty of the blasts probe, some sources in the security establishment pointed out a major trend unfolding across India: Of locally powerful networks such as criminals and those with grievances being used to plant bombs made of locally available material to strike terror in city centres.

The official pointed out that most recruits in this “new wave of terrorism” in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and elsewhere were mostly Muslims with criminal background, or with grievances.

In western India, the masterminds recruit underworld elements, in Kerala it is criminals for terror training in Pakistan, in Gujarat it is the victims of the riots, and in the northeast probably local insurgents. “For each locality a separate group, but the overall strategy remains the same,” says an officer.

“Some money and a lot of anti-state propaganda will do the trick,” he points out. While killing many and injuring more, these attacks are beginning to achieve a bigger strategic target: Of shaking up the confidence of international investors and domestic audience in the capability of the Indian government to run a law-based peaceful society.

“The message they want to send out is that India is a lawless country, your investments are not safe and its economic boom is not perpetual as is generally believed,” says a senior official who has handled several blast cases, and who is beginning to wonder if the “real masterminds” would ever be arrested. His frustration at the inability of the political leadership to come together to put their weight behind the security establishment to resolve the crisis is visible.

“We must let the law take its own course. But we need a broad-based counter-terror strategy that would address genuine grievances,” he says.

A senior officer in another establishment says he is convinced that a “large scale” conspiracy hatched abroad and involving a huge amount of funding is underway.

Convinced that the ISI is behind it, he explains, “They have mastered a new strategy.
They are heavily paying off whoever is strong (criminal element or insurgents) in a particular city,  They pass on the money and let local groups do the action. The motive is money and the operatives local, so there is very little proof to point fingers at them,” he says, arguing that these blasts are doing “much more strategic and tactical damages” to India than an all-out war along the border “which would be much more costlier.”

The source points to the high level of communalisation that is seeping into the politics and society in recent days. “Half a dozen serial blasts and suddenly communal disharmony has become our biggest challenge,” the senior official said.
j_josy@dnaindia.net

Three Pakistanis shaitans held with Rs 75 crore fake currency

Three Pakistanis held with Rs 75 crore fake currency
27 Sep, 2008, 2018 hrs IST, PTI

MEERUT: Three Pakistan nationals were arrested with fake Indian currency notes in the face value of Rs 75 crore from Kankarkhera in the city, police said.

A team of Uttar Pradesh anti terrorist sqaud (ATS) arrested Riyasat, Akhlaq and Adil yesterday, all residents of Kairana in Muzaffarnagar district. They allegedly intruded into the Indian soil years back through Nepal.

Counterfeit notes in the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 in the face value of Rs 75 crore were recovered from them, police said.

Earlier, Riyasat was twice arrested from Kandhala in Muzaffarnagar in connection with a similar case.

Police are on the look out for other members of the gang, who are believed to be indulging in a fake currency racket for the last seven-eight years.

Indian Muslims arrested in Chennai for fake currency

Currency bust sparks alarm
6 Sep 2008, 0428 hrs IST, A Selvaraj,TNN

CHENNAI: In the wake of two incidents relating to the arrest of people carrying counterfeit currency notes in the city, the Chennai police have warned shop keepers and vendors to thoroughly check Rs 500 notes before accepting them.

On Thursday, police arrested Noorullah and his 14-year-old son who came from Delhi to the city, and recovered fake currency to the tune of Rs 1.44 lakh, all in denomination of Rs 500. They had already circulated 112 counterfeit notes of Rs 500 denomination in the last 10 days. On Wednesday, police had arrested four others at Periamedu and seized 28 fake currency notes of Rs 500 denomination.

Police cracked down on the duo after Raja, a juice shop owner at Broadway, alerted them. Noorullah had offered a Rs 500 note to Raja after having juice on Thursday night. Finding something wrong with the currency note, the shop owner called up police.

A police team rushed to the shop and took the duo into custody. Preliminary inquiries revealed that Noorullah had arrived in Chennai 10 days ago and had been staying at a lodge in Triplicane. The team immediately rushed to the lodge and inspected the room where they were staying. They recovered Rs 1.44 lakh worth fake currencies from the room.

Police said Noorullah confessed to having circulated Rs 56,000 in fake currencies across the city. “We are interrogating the man to verify if he has links with Abdul Khadir Ahmed, Mohammad Abdullah and two others, who were arrested for possession of counterfeit currencies in Periamedu on Wednesday. We have arrested Noorullah and his son on Friday afternoon and they would be remanded after detailed interrogation,” a police officer said.
The police top brass has asked personnel to advise shop owners and roadside vendors to check twice before accepting Rs 500 currency notes from suspicious persons. “On Thursday night, two policemen came on a patrol vehicle and informed all the shop keepers in Pondy Bazaar to be cautious while accepting Rs 500 notes,” said Mekala, who runs a roadside tiffin shop in T Nagar.

“This is a routine alert given to shop owners. Small shop owners may not have the fake currency detector and taking advantage of this, fraudsters may try to push the counterfeit notes,” a senior police officer said.

selvaraj.a@timesgroup.com

Pakistan procuring paper from London to make fake Indian notes

RBI to withdraw 1996, 2000 currency notes

Pak procuring paper from London to make fake Indian notes
29 Aug 2008, 0041 hrs IST, Pradeep Thakur & Vishwa Mohan,TNN

NEW DELHI: With Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh proving to be active partners in probing fake Indian currency notes (FICN) related cases, India has recently traced Pakistan’s London connection in printing and circulation of counterfeit notes.

Although the role of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI in printing and circulation of FICN has never been a secret, sleuths recently found that the spy agency had, of late, impressed upon the government in Islamabad to import additional currency-standard printing paper from companies located in London to pursue its nefarious designs in India.

Referring to recent probes done in coordination with sleuths of Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh, officials pointed out that Pakistan has been procuring currency-standard printing paper in huge quantities from London-based companies — much higher than normal requirement of the country for printing its own currency — for diverting it to print FICN.

This is, however, only one aspect of Pakistan’s direct involvement in the FICN racket which is being carried out by using the network of underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim not only in India but also in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal in close association with different terror outfits. The ISI has, in fact, been using state air-carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to transport counterfeit currency to its conduits in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, sources in investigating agencies said.

The modus operandi of the ISI was revealed by two Nepali counterfeit currency traffickers who were arrested by Thailand police in October last year. During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they were working for a prominent Nepali businessman who was the son of a former minister in King Gyanendra’s regime. “The fact that Nepali territory is being used by Pakistanis to smuggle counterfeit currency is well known. The first such expose was made when Pakistani diplomats were caught distributing FICN in Nepal,” an official said.

Recent arrests made in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also pointed to Pakistan’s connection in the circulation of FICN.

One Naushad Alam Khan, arrested in Dhaka on April 24 with FICN worth Rs 50 lakh, had admitted his direct link with HuJI (Bangladesh) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan. It was found that both Khan and Hannan had fought for Taliban in Afghanistan.

Sri Lankan police had arrested two Pakistani nationals and a local in Colombo and seized a large amount of counterfeit Indian currency from them on July 8. It was found during the probe that both of them had arrived from Karachi.

All those arrested in neighbouring countries had also disclosed that the ISI had been using its printing facilities in Quetta, Baluchistan, to print FICN before transporting it to different countries for its onward push into India.

Besides Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, counterfeit currency is also sent to Thailand before it finally makes its way to India using the south-east Asian network of Dawood.

1996, 2000 currency notes to be withdrawn because of Islamic terrorism

RBI to withdraw 1996, 2000 currency notes
28 Aug 2008, 1108 hrs IST,TIMESOFINDIA.COM

NEW DELHI- The Reserve Bank of India has issued orders for the withdrawal of all currency notes of years 1996 and 2000 in a bit to contain the fake currency racket. ( Watch )

The withdrawal will take place by January 2009.

The decision was made after a multi-crore fake currency scam was unearthed in Uttar Pradesh.

Notes of denomination 10, 20, 50 and 100 are to be withdrawn by the RBI. Counterfeit notes are largely of the 1996 and the 2000 series. Crude attempts have been made to breach the 2005 series also.

New series of currency notes will have increased security features.