Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police officers interrogating Nepali national Vicky Manihar, a kingpin of the racket, are startled by his revelations.
Young women acting as couriers, ATM cards issued by Nepal-based banks and night bus services between India and Nepal. These are some of the ingenious methods used by traffickers running an organised racket of fake currency notes. The notes printed in Pakistan find their way to India via Nepal.
Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police officers interrogating Nepali national Vicky Manihar, a kingpin of the racket, are startled by his revelations. Vicky, who carried a reward of Rs2,500, was recently arrested by Bahraich Police.
“The racket is much more organised than we initially thought,” additional DG of UP Police AK Jain said, adding that Manihar had provided valuable information on the functioning of the racket.
Young, good looking and well-educated women are being used as couriers to transport fake currency across the border to India. These women are picked up from big cities and metros, including Delhi. “The girls prove to be good couriers as they do not arouse suspicion,” a police officer probing the matter told DNA.
Special Security Bureau, a unique intelligence-cum-commando force deployed on the Indo-Nepal border, recently nabbed two such woman couriers with wads of fake currency. Both belonged to Delhi. A senior officer said the women were being used to carry consignments of fake notes to big cities and tourist destinations such as Agra and Varanasi.
Another smart move the currency traffickers have recently come up with involves the use of ATM debit cards issued by banks in Nepal. These are used to withdraw money from ATMs in border areas of UP and Bihar. Real currency notes of Rs500 and Rs1,000 denominations are then mixed with the fakes. This makes it easier for the operators to foist off fakes to unsuspecting people.
Sources in the State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Lucknow said withdrawals from the bank’s ATMs in areas bordering Nepal had risen alarmingly. The manager of the bank’s Forbesganj branch in Araria district, 12 km from the Nepal border, recently reported to seniors that withdrawals from the Forbesganj Railway Station ATM had touched Rs60 lakh on some days, astounding for such a remote place.
The manager is learnt to have reported that some people carrying 10 to 12 debit cards issued by Nepal-based banks had been withdrawing huge amounts of cash in India. On days, the branch has had to supply Rs20 lakh thrice to keep the ATM running, he said.
The smugglers have also been making good use of the night bus service between Kathmandu and Nepalganj on the UP-Nepal border to deliver fakes. “We have definite information that bus operators are a part of this network and are paid well for the job,” a senior police officer said.
The officer said it was the smart modus operandi that was helping the smugglers transport large consignments of fake notes across the border with impunity. No wonder police and intelligence officials failed to sniff the racket running virtually under their nose.
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