Nepalese authorities have busted a major criminal network operating between Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Gulf countries.
KATHMANDU: Nepalese authorities have busted a major criminal network operating between Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Gulf countries with the arrest of a foreign currency racket kingpin Aslam Ansari, who is suspected to have links with terror networks in South Asia.
58-year-old Aslam, a Pakistani national from Karachi, and his accomplice Mohammad Jehangir, 25, who hails from Sitamarhi district in Bihar, were arrested along with their Nepali partner Nasim Ansari, 27, from a hotel in Birgunj, a border town in southern Nepal on Saturday, according to Police Inspector Krishna Prasad Sharma.
The police have recovered Rs 1.2 lakh counterfeit currency in 1,000 denominations from the hotel where they were staying. The arrest was made on the basis of information furnished by Sajid Ansari, from Birgunj, who was arrested in November along with counterfeit Indian currency worth nearly Rs. 8 lakh.
In Nepal possession of Indian currency in denominations of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 are considered illegal.
As per our information, Aslam has traveled between Pakistan and Kathmandu for 6-7 times within 2-3 years period and he was arrested in Kathmandu in 2005 in connection with counterfeit currency and later release on bail, Sharma said.
The police officer said that they might have terrorist connection as the police have suspected their involvement in narcotic drugs, arms supply and counterfeit currency racket.
We are investigating whether he has supplied the fake currency to the terrorists, the police said.
The busting of the gang with possible terror links comes as India blamed Pakistan-based militants of carrying out the Mumbai carnage, which killed nearly 200 people last month. India has also accused Pakistani terror groups of funding militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India through ciculation of counterfeit currency.
Nepal Police reportedly learnt from Nasim that the smuggling network had spread from Pakistan to Kathmandus Nakhu jail. Nasim was operating a travel agency in Kathmandu and was involved in providing fake travel documents for Pakistanis in Nepal and to facilitate their trips between Pakistan and Kathmandu, according to the police.
The police have also recovered mobile phone sets and master cards of different countries from them.
"The Rs 1.20 lakh counterfeit currency we recovered from them was just samples of a bigger deal and we have information that they were trying to make a deal of one crore with an Indian party," the police official said.
Earlier, we were able to nab only the carriers, but the arrest of a real culprit has brought the kingpins to the surface," Sharma stressed.
The police said they were preparing to file a case against the three in the Nepalese court for trial. If found guilty they might get a maximum of 10-12 years jail sentence in the fake currency racket.
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