Fake currency racket: NIA team to visit Dubai

New Delhi, Oct 14: A team of the National Investigation Agency is set to visit Dubai in a bid to probe further the fake Indian currency racket. It has become a global menace now, an NIA official informed OneIndia while adding that they will probe a fake currency printing unit that has been set up in Dubai.

The extended cooperation between India and Bangladesh as a result of which a joint task force was set up led to the information of a printing unit in Dubai, the NIA official informed.

OneIndia had reported on January 3 2015 that a major operative of the Dawood Ibrahim syndicate was running a fake currency racket from Dubai (NIA files charges in high quality fake currency case).

The Dubai syndicate

Bangladesh and India have jointly been conducting investigations into the fake currency racket. It was found that notes printed in Dubai were being circulated in India. It was also found that the notes printed in Dubai would make its way into India through Bangladesh.

Following a visit by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi to Bangladesh recently it was decided that both nations would cooperate on issues of security and the fake currency menace was one of the main focus. The NIA has been tracking the menace of fake currency since the past four years now.

The NIA named Ekramul Ansari as the prime accused who had attempted to smuggle in fake currency notes worth Rs 49 lakh from Dubai to India.

The NIA states that Ansari had brought into India fake currency worth Rs 49 lakh from Dubai and had planned on circulating it. All the notes that were found were of the Rs 1000 denomination and on verification at Nashik it was found to be fake.

The accused according to the NIA was travelling from Dubai to India. He had plans of smuggling the notes into Patna. It is also stated that he planned to drop it off with his men in Patna who turn would have circulated it.

Ansari who originally hails from East Champaran in Bihar was allegedly working with the Dawood syndicate which is also involved in the circulation of fake currency.

The notes printed were of very high quality and it was difficult to spot it at first. When the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence nabbed Ansari at Delhi he was not able to explain why he was carrying so much unaccounted money with him. He was arrested and then handed over to the NIA.

The Iqbal Kana link

Ansari revealed that he worked for Iqbal Kana in Dubai who headed the D syndicate network in Dubai. Ansari said that it was Kana who told him to smuggle the notes into India.

Ansari also told the NIA that the D Syndicate runs a full fledged fake currency racket from Dubai. He also pointed out that there were several Indians in the syndicate who reported to Kana who headed the operations.

OneIndia News