Counterfeit currency is being printed at government mints; notes are being routed to India via Kathmandu, Dhaka and Dubai.
Indian intelligence agencies have evidence that the Pakistan government is printing fake Indian currency notes at its mints and pushing these
into India.
This came to light after the recent arrest of a gang of seven people who were to offload Rs1 crore in fake notes in India. Then, a phone call made by someone in Pakistan was intercepted, asking Indian contacts to collect fake currency notes of Rs40 crore from various destinations in India and neighbouring countries.
With all this evidence in its bag, the Indian government decided to launch a diplomatic offensive to expose Pakistan’s involvement in printing fake Indian currency notes at its mints.
“The forensic tests done on Rs500 fake currency notes have confirmed that these were printed at a high-tech and costly printing presses, the ones countries use to print their own currencies. We will send this evidence to certain international agencies so that they can carry out investigations. After this, they can approach the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to get Pakistan blacklisted,” the official said.
He pointed out that the first step in this direction will be to contact the Financial Action Task Force, an international agency set up to curb money-laundering and terror financing. India became a signatory when home minister P Chidambaram visited America sometime ago.
According to the official, the fakes were of a high quality. “The quality of paper, printing and security features on the notes confirmed that these cannot be printed by non-state actors. Plus, we have clear evidence that these counterfeits are coming from Pakistan,” he observed.
This time, the Indian government is serious about getting Pakistan to stop pushing in fake currency into India. This is the reason New Delhi has decided to approach the international community, instead of speaking to Pakistan, which lives in a state of denial.
“As a strategic move, we have decided to do something to shame Pakistan on the international stage and provide them evidence to further investigate the matter. This is the only way to pressurise Pakistan’s ISI to stop printing and pumping fake currency into India,” he added.
The information that fakes were being printed in Pakistan’s official mints came to light after the CBI busted a seven-member gang.
The operatives were nabbed from Delhi, Haryana, Bihar and West Bengal. Fake currency notes of Rs500 denomination were also seized during a recent raid in Malaysia.
Annually, Indian security and intelligence agencies seize fake currency with a face value of Rs1 crore. The consignments from Pakistan come via Dhaka, Kathmandu and even Dubai, just to divert suspicion.
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