NIA arrests fake currency racket mastermind deported from Saudi Arabia

[Hindustani78]

PTI | Last Updated: Thursday, December 22, 2016 - 23:32
http://zeenews.india.com/news/india...rmind-deported-from-saudi-arabia_1960898.html

New Delhi: Saudi Arabia has deported a ring leader of a fake Indian currency note racket, Abdul Salam, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) upon his landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here today.


Abdul Salam alias Podi Salam, a resident of Malappuram in Kerala, was wanted in a case of smuggling of fake Indian currency notes (FICNs) with a face value of Rs 9.75 lakh which were seized from Abid Chullikulavan Hassan by Customs wing (Rummage & Intelligence Unit), Kochi at Nedumbasserry International Airport.

The NIA had taken over investigation into the case on July 13, 2014 from Kerala Police and filed a charge sheet?against five accused including Abdul Salam on July 23, 2015.

The agency alleged that Salam was part of the criminal conspiracy to smuggle high quality counterfeit notes to India from the UAE and had facilitated its smuggling through Abid Chullikulavan Hassan.


First Published: Thursday, December 22, 2016 - 23:11

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/597046/gang-printing-fake-currency-notes.html

Jammu, Feb 18, 2017 (PTI)

Police today busted a gang involved in printing of fake currency and arrested two people, recovering fake banknotes with face value of nearly Rs four lakh in different denominations in Jammu region.

Two persons have been arrested and Rs 3.98 lakh in fake currency has been recovered from them apart from a printer and cutter here, thereby busting the racket, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jammu zone S D Singh Jamwal told reporters.

He said that the arrested people have been identified as Amandeep Singh of Simbal Camp (R S Pura) and Romesh Kumar alias Doctor alias Sahil of R S Pura.

He said that one HP Deskjet Ink Advantage 2520 HC all-in-one printer with lead adopter, 184 fake currency notes in denomination of Rs 2,000 and 68 fake notes in denomination of Rs 500, two scales and one cutter were recovered from them.

A case has been registered and investigation is on, he said. As per the investigation, the fake currency has not reached the market as they were only printing it when the arrests were made, the IGP said.

Their aim was to hit the economy of Jammu and Kashmir and the country, he said adding that the militant infrastructure is in place across the border and police and security forces are jointly working to ensure alertness and effective security set up in the hinterland and along the border in the state.

"Pakistan is always trying to smuggle in drugs into Jammu and Kashmir as it is the border point but the security agency are active and alert to foil their designs," he said adding "I appeal to the youth to avoid use of drugs and foil the designs of Pakistan".

 

[Hindustani78]

The BSF said it apprehended Nadia resident Shariful Shah with the cache as he was allegedly carrying the notes and was attempting to board a bus from NH 34.

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...ized-along-indo-bangla-border-in-west-bengal/

By: PTI | Kolkata | Published:February 20, 2017 12:45 pm
BSF troops seized a cache of 48 Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) of Rs 2,000 from a man who was apprehended along the Indo-Bangla border in Malda town of West Bengal. Officials said the seizure of the FICN in new notes with a face value of Rs 96,000 was made last evening from Baishnabnagar area of Malda near National Highway-34, as part of an intelligence based operation. This is the second such seizure along the South Bengal frontier of the Border Security Force that comprises five border towns of West Bengal. The BSF said it apprehended Nadia resident Shariful Shah (32) with the cache as he was allegedly carrying the notes and was attempting to board a bus from the highway.

“The quality of the 48 Rs 2,000 notes, with the face value of Rs 96,000, is better than what was seized by the force sometime back along the India-Bangladesh International Border last week when 100 such notes were seized,” they said.

More details about the quality of notes will be ascertained by concerned agencies, the BSF said.

Shah has been handed over to Malda police for further interrogation about the source of fake notes of Rs 2,000.

“Cash worth Rs 820, a mobile phone and an Aadhaar card was also seized from his possession,” they said.

Last week, the force had seized a packet of similar FICN containing 100 notes of Rs 2,000 from a mango orchard in the border town of Malda.

It was then said that these 100 notes, flung in a packet from across the border, had copied at least 8-9 features out of the total 17 on the original currency.

The West Bengal Police had earlier seized 40 such fake notes from a man in Murshidabad, that also lies on the Indo-Bangla International Border in West Bengal.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...-face-value-rs-96000-seized-in-malda-4535457/

BSF arrests man with fake Rs 2,000 notes; says smugglers looking to replicate new Rs 500 notes as well

By: Express News Service | New Delhi/kolkata | Published:February 21, 2017 5:28 am

After counterfeiting the new Rs 2,000 notes, the fake currency smuggling racket across the India-Bangladesh border has stepped up efforts to replicate the new Rs 500 notes, intelligence officials have said. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Border Security Force (BSF) too have claimed that samples of fake Rs 500 notes have come from across the border for approval.

The officials said investigation has revealed that though several security features of the notes have been copied, the print quality remains poor, but added that it would be difficult to detect the fake notes with naked eyes. “The arrested note smugglers revealed during interrogation that the new consignment of fake notes is coming from Pakistan. There is also a spurt in the number of fake Rs 100 and 50 notes,” said a senior Home Ministry official.

On Sunday, BSF personnel seized a consignment of 48 fake Rs 2000 notes from a man apprehended along the Indo-Bangla border in Malda district of West Bengal. Officials said the seizure was made from near NH-34 in the Baishnabnagar area of Malda.

“We had received specific information that a youth has come to Malda to collect a consignment of FICN (fake Indian currency notes). We were told that he was heading toward Baishnabnagar and will be moving forward from there,” said DIG, BSF, R P S Jaswal in a statement issued on Monday.

The statement said that Shariful Shah (32) hailed from Nadia district and ran a ration shop there with his brother. “He told us that he was in desperate need of money and had come here to a money lender. But we believe that he was planning to distribute the notes through the public distribution system since he runs a ration shop. Of course it is possible that he would have sent the notes ahead to another handler,” said a source in the BSF.

Shah was arrested when he was about to board a bus. Apart from the fake notes, genuine notes amounting to Rs 820, a cellphone and an Aadhaar card were recovered from him. This was the second such seizure along the Indo-Bangla border, says the BSF statement.

Shah has been handed over to West Bengal police for further interrogation, said an official. The official added that the quality of the 48 fake notes, with a face value of Rs 96,000, was better than what was seized by the force sometime back.

Last week, BSF had seized 100 Rs 2000 notes from near Malda on disclosures made by one Umar Faruk, who was arrested by NIA. According to BSF, the total face value of fake currency seized in the first two months this year stood at Rs 2,96,000. Last year, fake currency with face value of Rs 1,47,70,500 was seized and 19 smugglers arrested.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...urrency-inflow-into-state/article19970727.ece

‘Department critically ill-equipped to identify illegal consignments’

Notwithstanding its sinking lustre among the general public post-demonetisation, currency notes, both fake and original, still have a prominent place in illegitimate trades taking place through the porous borders of Kerala.

The Customs Department has flagged concern over the high rate of currency smuggling attempts through the State’s ports and airports. The matter was raised during an exclusive meeting convened by the State government in Thiruvananthapuram a few days ago.

Representatives of all State and Central enforcement agencies as well as senior officers of the Reserve Bank of India attended the meeting.

Maintaining that the likely arrival of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) through the sea route remained a major concern, a senior Customs official confessed that the department was critically ill-equipped to identify such consignments. “How are our officers supposed to identify FICNs in the absence of proper training and machinery?” the official sought to know.

With hundreds of containers being shipped into the State every week, it is not possible to subject every consignment for detailed direct scrutiny given the staff strength of the department, which falls 50% short of the sanctioned strength. “Low-value bills, which are mostly printed domestically, may be easy to identify, but that is not the case with FICNs printed in Pakistan. We need force multipliers like modern cameras, scanners, vehicles, drones, sniffer dogs, and seaplanes to take on smugglers,” he added.

The department also raised concern over the rise in smuggling of foreign currency through the three airports of the State. According to official estimates, the Customs Preventive Commissionerate, Kochi, alone has seized around ₹91 lakh worth foreign currency from various parts of the State in the first six months of the current fiscal.

Hail from north Kerala
Interestingly, all the accused detained belonged to north Kerala.

Terming the seizures the tip of the iceberg, the officials said the actual amount being sent through the route could be several times higher. They added that the department was maintaining surveillance over passengers bound for sensitive places such as Dubai, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia.

Whenever the hawala rate of exchange goes above the rate offered by banks, the smuggling of foreign currency goes up naturally, in turn fuelling other illegitimate businesses including gold smuggling, they explained.

 

[Hindustani78]

By Express News Service | Published: 16th November 2017 03:42 PM |
http://www.newindianexpress.com/nat...a-for-possession-of-fake-curency-1702816.html

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested four persons from the vicinity of Howrah railway station in Kolkata for possession of fake Indian currency with a face value of Rs 9.1 lakh.

The four arrested accused persons include Barkat Ansari, Utpal Chowdhur, Fijul Mia and Rabjul Mia. All the arrested persons hail from Sattari village under English Bazar police station of Malda district of West Bengal.

“On November 14, 2017, the NIA, Kolkata Branch, received specific source information regarding certain individuals in possession of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) with the intention of handing over to certain persons for pushing into monetary system as genuine Indian currency. A team of NIA officers was immediately tasked to carry out this operation. Late into the night, the team seized FICN having face value of Rs 9.1 lakh (in the denomination of Rs 2000) from the vicinity of Howrah Railway Station, Kolkata, from four persons, who were apprehended,” NIA Inspector General and spokesperson Alok Mittal said in a statement.

Subsequently, the NIA team approached the Golabari Police Station of Howrah district and lodged a complaint in connection with the arrests and the recoveries. The NIA also produced the seized items and the persons apprehended to the local police.

The Golabari police station has registered FIR No. 717/17 on Wednesday under IPC sections relating to criminal conspiracy (120-B), producing forged currency notes as genuine (489-B) and possession of counterfeit currency (489-C)

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...d-passenger/story-fyzxvpoTin4g9ZGiGckkdL.html

DRI seizes Rs 1.05 crore in foreign currency from Dubai-bound passenger

The passenger was carrying the currency in Omani and Saudi Riyals.
Updated: Jan 18, 2018 21:28 IST
Press Trust of India, Hyderabad

Saudi riyal notes.(Shutterstock)


Directorate of Revenue Intelligence Hyderabad Zonal Unit on Thursday said they seized foreign currency worth Rs 1.05 crore from a passenger who was about to board a flight to Dubai.

According an official statement from the department, the passenger was carrying the currency in Omani and Saudi Riyals.

“The passenger on interrogation stated that the currency was obtained from persons in violation of FEMA, 1999 (Foreign Exchange Management Act),” it said.

Further investigation was underway, it added.