Huge haul of fake Indian currency in Bangladesh

The Home Ministry has told the West Bengal and Assam governments to maintain strict vigil across the border after Bangladeshi authorities intercepted a consignment of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) with a face value of Rs 40 crore.

Investigating agencies are probing whether this has any links with the multi-crore lottery scam busted in West Bengal last week.

A senior official from the Bangladesh’s Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation told Deccan Herald that six people have been detained on September 26 in connection with the seizure of fake notes on September 20.

The consignment, comprising four cartons declared as “household goods”, landed at Chittagong port on-board MV Prosper, which started from Jebel Ali port in Dubai and reached Bangladesh via Colombo. While authorities agree that this could be the single biggest haul of FICN in the region, since the consignment’s port of origin was Dubai, agencies believe it was a Pakistan-sponsored racket, run using the network of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.  “We are yet to find any connection between the FICN racket and the lottery scam but some names that have cropped up are common to both,” an official with an Indian agency said. Though the official refused to name anybody, Central agencies are coordinating with the Bangladesh government, keeping in loop the state governments of West Bengal and Assam.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has taken over the lottery scam probe from the Income Tax (I-T) department’s investigation wing on Monday, is checking the money trail of the lottery scam where a large amount of cash was being sent to Dubai, Sharjah and Bangkok using the hawala network.