Fake notes smuggled in through Nepal border

Siliguri, Apr 24: Pakistani intelligence agency ISI is actively involved in smuggling fake notes to India through Nepal to destabilise the Indian economy, a Sasashtra Seema Bal (SSB) investigation revealed.

The SSB had already informed the Union Home Ministry and West Bengal government about the rampant pushing of fake currency notes of 500 and 1000 denominations into India through the porous borders of Nepal.

Earlier Bangladesh was a safe haven for such clandestine export of fake Indian currencies to disrupt the economy, the investigation said.

But increased vigilance along the border in Malda, South and North Dinajpur and Murshidabad and arrest of many touts made the ISI to change its strategy and choose Nepal, a new hub for such nefarious activities.

An SSB official said here today that earlier Bangladesh was a hub of ISI activities but now the agency has gained a strong foothold in Nepal as well.

However, they were using new techniques to smuggle fake notes to India.

He also said, ''We have informed about this to Ministry of Defence and Home Affairs.'' A senior official of SSB said, ''As Indo-Nepal is an open border, ISI is working from Nepal. Earlier ISI operated from Bangladesh but now from Nepal due to tight security by Border Security Force(BSF).'' People of some border villages were also intrigued into the nexus by ISI, he added.

He said Reserve Bank of India recently conducted a workshop in Indo-Nepal bordering areas among the SSB jawans to know more about fake currency.

In a two-day programme, the bank had demonstrated the process of distinguishing between an original note and a fake note.

UNI