Officers of the Mumbai Crime Branch said on Friday that counterfeit currency gangs employ poor residents of towns on the India-Bangladesh border to smuggle fake notes into cities like Mumbai.
On Wednesday, the Anti Extortion Cell of the Crime Branch arrested two men in Dongri for allegedly carrying counterfeit currency. Investigating officials said the accused hailed from Malda district in West Bengal and were part of a large group of residents of border towns who are regularly used as conduits of fake currency.
The two accused, identified as Sana-ul (22) and Suleiman (46), were found to be in possession of 240 fake ₹2,000 notes. They were of superior quality and had the same serial numbers.
A Crime Branch officer said, “The accused said during interrogation that scores of poor like them hailing from Malda and other border towns signed up for the job as they were in dire need of money.
“The gangs operate from across the border and are on the lookout for people willing to take the risk of circulating counterfeit currency to make a quick buck.”
The officer said the fake currency was sold to Suleiman at 40% of its value and he was told to keep the profits earned while making purchases with the notes.
Another officer said, “Both the accused lived in Malda and knew each other well. Suleiman had relatives in Bangladesh and was in regular touch with them. He once came into contact with the masterminds of the fake currency racket in Bangladesh through his relatives. The racket operates on word of mouth publicity and there is no dearth of poor men and women willing to take the risk.”
The officer said that the accused allegedly admitted during interrogation that smuggling fake currency into cities like Mumbai was easy as chances of being caught during random checks was “one in a million”.
The officer added, “Lakhs of people make purchases using ₹2,000 notes on a daily basis in any given city. Unless we have specific information about someone carrying fake currency, it is next to impossible to intercept such people.”
The Crime Branch will decide on invoking the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in the case after receiving the report of the Indian Security Press in Nashik on the quality of the fake notes.
A 2012 amendment to the Act permits invoking its provisions in cases where fake currency of a high quality have been seized.
