Five rupee coins are being smuggled into Bangladesh from India to be melted down for making razor blades.
Six razor blades can be made from a single Rs five coin. Each blade sells for Rs 2, police sources said. "This has been going on for quite some time now. We are looking into it," RBI Executive Director H R Khan said, when asked to comment.
According to police reports, the coins were initially smuggled into Bangladesh for being made into coins, but now the same thing is being done on this side of the border as well. Khan said the metallic content of the 5 rupee coins are now being changed.
"We are now changing the metallic content of the Rs 5 coin so that the new ones will not be lucrative for melting. The new metallic content of the cupronickel coin will reduce its the attractiveness for smugglers," the ED said.