Fake currency racket busted

Updated on: 03 February,2011 08:00 AM IST |
Imran Gowhar |

The East-Division police have arrested a gang of six who they claim are part of an international fake currency circulation racket.

The East-Division police have arrested a gang of six who they claim are part of an international fake currency circulation racket. The gang comprising of three persons from Kashmir and three from West Bengal used to collect consignments from their associates at the Indo-Bangladesh border, hoodwinking the Border Security Force.

The gang has been in the city for the past month on the pretext of selling sweaters and Kashmiri merchandise, and used to circulate fake currency notes through unsuspecting customers. On a tip off, Ramamurthy Nagar police nabbed Tippu Anees (28), a resident of Kashmir, and recovered some fake currency.

A detailed enquiry led to the arrest of his associates including Asghar (26) of Murshidabad, Nazeer Ahmed (28) and Mushtaq Ahmed (21) from Kashmir, and Ziarula Sheikh (27) from Murshidabad andu00a0 Abdul Malik (29), from Malda.

The gang confessed that they are part of an international fake currency circulation with contacts in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The operation
The gang contacted their counterparts across the border regularly, and fixed a time and date to reach Malda for the consignment. Their accomplices would dump a bag filled with fake currency, which the gang would collect.

"We're on the lookout for Shekih Akhtar and Arun Sheikh from Bangladesh who used to make the drop," said ACP N Narasihaiah. "Luckily the gang couldn't establish local contacts otherwise they would have pumped the remaining currency worth Rs 7.2 lakh in the market," he added.