Fake Indian currency notes of face value Rs 3 lakh, suspected to have been routed to the country from Pakistan and Bangladesh, have been seized and two members of an international racket circulating counterfeit notes in Delhi, UP, Bihar and West Bengal arrested, police said today.
Delhi Police's Special Cell, while tracking the activities of the gang for the last four months, zeroed in on Neetu (34) and Salim Sheikh (23) and arrested them from near the DTC bus depot in Seemapuri yesterday, Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, DCP (Special Cell) said.
"During surveillance, it was revealed that Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) is being pumped into Malda district of West Bengal by Pakistan through the porous Indo-Bangla border. It was then handed over to racketeers in various parts of the country including Delhi, UP and Bihar," he said.
Police recovered packets of fake currency notes of face value Rs 2 lakh from Salim, while Neetu was carrying a packet of counterfeit notes of face value Rs one lakh in the denomination of Rs 1,000.
During interrogation, the duo revealed that exchange of fake currency through Nepal border is also a channel of pumping FICN into India, the officer claimed.
Investigation has revealed that many Pakistan-based elements are pumping fake currency into India through Bangladesh border to cripple the economy. Malda has emerged as an epicentre of illegal drug trade and counterfeit currency rackets because of its strategic location along the porous international border, the DCP said.
It is suspected that Pakistan-based Iqbal Kana and his associates are engaged in sending FICN in India through Nepal and Bangladesh borders for the last many years, he said.
The name Iqbal Kana has cropped up time and again with the arrest of fake Indian currency notes racketeers.
It is suspected that a large portion of the money derived from fake Indian currency notes racketeering go into buying sophisticated weapons, which are smuggled into the country through the porous Indo-Bangladesh border.
Probe is on to find out if money raised from FICN racketeering is being diverted to promote terrorist activities in the country, the officer added.
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