Malda menace: How apathy in West Bengal is threatening the Indian economy

The menace of Malda is not something that is unknown. Malda in West Bengal is better known for its fake currency module and 99 out 100 cases reported since the past three years have been from this district.

Intelligence Bureau officials say that the Malda menace is due to a poor security mechanism. Several warnings and leads have been provided to the local administration, but the crackdown has been slow. Also most of the cases that have been detected are usually when the central agencies step in.

After the decision on demonetisation made on November 8, the fake currency notes of Rs 500 and 1,000 were wiped out. However it took the ISI just two months to pump in fake Rs 2,000 notes. Yet again all these notes were pumped into Malda from where it was circulated in other places.

The notes printed in Pakistan are sent to Bangladesh either from Dubai or Saudi Arabia. From Bangladesh, it is brought into Malda in West Bengal, investigations have revealed. Another disturbing trend that has been noticed is that there are attempts made to print the notes in Malda. High quality machinery had been found in raids last year.

The ISI feels that if the notes are printed in India, then the headache of transporting the same between multiple countries would not be there. Officials state that the operatives in Malda may not print the high denomination notes immediately. They would focus on the lower denomination notes. There are already plans afloat to print the Rs 100 and 50 note and put them in circulation. The racketeers feel that there would be a good demand for these notes as they are in shortage today after demonetisation.

OneIndia News