The Hindu : Front Page : Counterfeit currency racket busted

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 26, 2007
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Counterfeit currency racket busted

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD: In one of the biggest catches of recent times, the police arrested four persons including a Dubai national and seized counterfeit currency valued at Rs. 2.36 crore on Saturday.

Acting on an intelligence tip-off, the police raided a house in Salal Barkas of old city, took into custody the quartet and seized the fake currency bundles. Commissioner of Police Balwinder Singh confirmed that an organised gang with possible help from abroad, could be behind the circulation of the counterfeit currency. The city police busted an international racket of smuggling sophisticated fake Indian currency from Pakistan and Dubai,” Mr. Singh said. “All that we’re telling you is based on what the arrested said. But they’re giving conflicting versions,” Mr. Singh told a press conference. He said the Dubai national, Alkaz Khamis Obaid Khamis Ali, 31, has relatives in old city. He came in contact with a gang comprising three Pakistani nationals operating an international fake currency racket. His passport entries suggest he also visited Pakistan thrice subsequently.

The gang assigned him the task of circulating fake currency in India offering five per cent commission. As per the deal, 60 per cent genuine money procured with the circulation of fake currency was supposed to be sent to Dubai through ‘hawala’. All the fake currency notes were in the denominations of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000.

They were sent to India in three consignments -- Rs. 19 lakh, Rs. 55 lakh and Rs. 1.82 crore -- in that order through sea-cargo. The last load was concealed in scrap paper and shipped to Mumbai. From there, it was brought to Hyerabad in a truck and stored in a house at Salal Barkas.

Fake firm

The consignments were booked by West India Import & Export company, a fake firm flouted by one of the arrested, Hyderabadi Khaled Bin Saleh, purely to smuggle the counterfeit currency into India.

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