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KATHMANDU, Nov 9: Coinciding with the Nepal-India home secretary level meeting, which focused on the cross-border crimes, police on Saturday busted a local fake currency racket with fake Indian currency notes worth IRs 5,439,500. The seize was also appreciated by Indian Home Secretary GK Pillai during his press briefing on Saturday afternoon.
This is the second time that such a huge amount of fake Indian currency notes was seized in Nepal during the last few months. Earlier, on August 29, Abdul Gaffar, a Pakistani national, was arrested from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) along with fake Indian currency notes of Rs 500 denomination worth IRs 2,396,000.
Lalitpur Police on Saturday arrested Sheikh Safi Ahmed, 52, and Rashid Ekbal, 18, from Kupandole where they had been living in a rented apartment. According to Toran Karki, Inspector at Metropolitan Police Range, Lalitpur, notes of Rs 500 denomination worth IRs 1,588,000 and the rest of Rs 1,000 denomination were seized from the former manpower agents from Beluwa-2 of Bara.
According to the police, Ahmed and Ekbal were newcomers in the fake currency trade after Ahmed chose it following the failure of his company that used to send Nepali laborers to Qatar.
Karki said that the two, after primary investigation, are only found to have been involved in transporting the fake currency notes. Police had seized 10 briefcases packed with the fake notes.
In the last three years, the law enforcement agencies have seized NRs 1 million, IRs 13 million and US$ 207,000 and arrested 47 people in different cases. Of them, 30 persons were Nepali nationals.
Officials say the fake currency rackets are flourishing in Nepal. "They are making fake notes by using elementary materials like water, carbon paper, cotton and chemical white powder while some are also found to have been using color photocopiers," said an investigator at Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD).
The rackets seem to have their origins abroad and they mostly use Nepali nationals as carriers, officials say. The foreigners arrested in Nepal include Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Pakistani and African nationals.
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