Hyderabad: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday busted a multi-crore fake currency racket being run in Hyderabad and arrested four people in connection with the case. Fake cash worth Rs 27,000 was recovered from the spot.
The NIA conducted raids acting on a tip-off from an arrested gang leader in Kolkata.
Sources in the agency said that those arrested were operating a nation-wide network and smuggled large sums in 1000, 500 and 100 rupee notes from Bangladesh via air routes.
The notes were then circulated into Indian villages across the border.
CNN-IBN had in October 2011 first reported that Hyderabad was emerging as the new transit point for consignments of counterfeit currency.
Investigations by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had showed that the consignments coming from Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi were mainly sent to Hyderabad.
Another new route unearthed was the Dubai-Colombo sector. Investigators found that agents went from Calicut or Chennai to Colombo to collect the consignment and returned to India.
Home Ministry sources said that the most preferred route was by air, because without specific intelligence, it is impossible to detect fake currency.
From 2008-2009, Rs 2.5 crores of fake currency were seized by the DRI. In 2010, the seizures rose sharply to Rs 27 crores.
Yet Home Ministry sources believe that at least 25 times more or about Rs 650 crores of fake money may have come into the country undetected.
Comments
0 comment