Fake note rackets in B’desh cash in on unrest

Fake Indian currency note rackets operating in Bangladesh have gone into overdrive, taking advantage of the unrest in the country.

Fake Indian currency note rackets operating in Bangladesh have gone into overdrive, taking advantage of the unrest in the country.

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Shahnoyaj Kasuri, a counterfeit currencydealer arrested in Kolkata on Sunday, has admitted before Kolkata Police special task force officials that the Bangladesh unrest has made their operations easier. Kasuri, a resident of Malda district, was held with fake notes with a face value of R12 lakh.

“Kasuri said procuring fake Indian currency had become easy because the Bangladesh police were busy controlling the law and order situation,” an STF official who did not want to be named said on Monday.

The Border Security Force acknowledged the menace. “It is likely that bigger amounts of fake currency would be sneaked into India taking advantage of the ongoing turmoil in Bangladesh. We have alerted our officers and men on the ground,” BD Sharma, additional director general (east), BSF, said.

“Jessore and Darshna in Bangladesh that are close to the Bengal districts of North 24 Parganas and Nadia are important centres of fake Indian currency notes distribution. Chapai-Nababgunj, Rajsahi and Dinajpur areas of Bangladesh are close to Malda district on the Indian side,” said an official fighting the counterfeit currency menace.

Worryingly, the Reserve Bank of India has found that counterfeit currency notes coming into India from Bangladesh through West Bengal’s porous borders are the closest to genuine ones and very difficult to detect.

Fake currency dealers in Bangladesh have been even known to throw bundles of notes across unmanned border stretches for accomplices on the Indian side.

“Kasuri collected his consignment in this manner two days before his arrest,” the STF official said.