UP police busts inter-state ISI module

Lucknow Dec 10: In a major breakthrough, the Uttar Pradesh police have busted an inter-state ISI module pumping fake currency in the country and are investigating its possible links with several terrorist attacks in the country.

The UP police caught hold of the ISI module when seven people were arrested in Aligarh on December 6 for their involvement in a fake currency racket. A husband-wife duo was nabbed in Malda in West Bengal who had withdrawn money to the tune of Rs 75 lakh in the recent past.

State Additional Director General of Police(Crime, Law and Order) Brij Lal told the sources here today that the involvement of the module in terrorism could not be ruled out but further investigation and interrogation of the accused could reveal some important things.

He, however, confirmed that these people were related to the ISI's move to pump fake currency through Nepal.

The couple, Liquat Ali and his wife Shakila, had accounts with the Axis Bank and used to withdraw money through ATM cards after one Satyapal Gupta alias Daud and his gang members used to deposit money collected after exchange of fake currency.

Though more than Rs 3.2 crore have been withdrawn by the couple so far, the prominent withdrawl was Rs 75 lakh on November 21, just two days before the serial bomb blasts in three courts of Uttar Pradesh on November 23.

The couple was arrested from Malda on Thursday night by the West Bengal police after an alert was sounded by its UP counterpart and would reach Aligarh this evening on transit remand. Shaila is the pradhan of the Alipur Number 1 village, situated just 10 km away from the Bangladesh border.

The ADG said the couple would be on transit remand till December 12 and after that, would be taken in police remand for further investigation.

The UP police had stumbed on the information while questioning the suspects in Aligarh caught with Rs 12.59 lakh in fake notes. The seven suspects had told the police that the Bengal couple had given them the notes.

Sources said the couple would give the gang members over Rs 3 crore during each visit and in return Rs 75 lakh would be put in the pradhan's account in a phased manner.

As per the modus operandi of the gang, it used to bring fake currency from Birganj in Nepal and in Aligarh they exchanged it for original currency and later deposited in the Axis Bank account of Liquiat and Shakila. The gang used to deposit only Rs 49,000 everytime to evade the Income Tax(IT) dragnet.

Liquat used to visit Aligarh several times in the year while Satyapal Gupta had once visited Birganj to get the fake currencies.

Liquat was also involved in smuggling of tortoises from Mathura to West Bengal.

The other arrested people from Aligarh are Afsar Ali, Akhtar Ali, Nizam, Pappu and two others.

UNI