12 active FICN networks in Gujarat

The arrest of a labourer with counterfeit notes by Ranip police a few weeks ago has opened the Pandora’s Box in fake notes chapter in the state. With the latest one in cop net, the total people to be arrested so far in connection with fake Indian currency notes (FICN) has gone up to 25 people across the state within two weeks on charges of acquiring and circulating these fake notes.  

The last person to be arrested is Dinesh Patel, a Congress member of Mehsana district panchayat. Patel had allegedly acquired the counterfeits from kingpin Ramesh Patel, who reportedly brought Rs96 lakh in fake notes from Malda in West Bengal.

Meanwhile, cops in Kutch have made some more arrests during last two days. Based on the details acquired from Gafarsha, who was arrested few days back, cops have nabbed four more people, including one Ataullah Shaikh, a resident of Anjar and originally from Malda in West Bengal. He was nabbed by Special Operation Group (SOG) with FICN worth Rs60,000.

Other arrested from Anjar included Bholashankar Prasad, originally from West Bengal; and another man who was nabbed from the Anjar bus stop. Apart from them, arrests were also made from different towns and cities across Gujarat, including Vankaner, Dhrangadhra, Junagadh, Kalavad, Dwarka, and Rajkot.

Investigation and subsequent calculation by SOG is believed to have revealed some shocking information. According to these investigations, it is believed that there were 12 different rackets running concurrently in the state.

Earlier, it was believed that all the FICN network in the state is run by a main kingpin. However, when cops dug deeper into the rackets, they realised that different agents and sub agents are involved in the circulation of FICN in the state. Among these rackets, one was busted in Jamnagar one week ago, where SOG has seized FICN worth Rs26 lakh.

Another was busted by Ahmedabad crime branch on Saturday, where they arrested kingpin Ramesh Patel and two of his sub-agents from Junagadh, which led to the arrest of Dinesh Patel of Mehsana.

When asked if this was connected to the Jamnagar racket, cops denied links. “This is different from the racket busted in Jamnagar. We are still inquiring about the fake notes circulated by Patel in the market through agents,” said Himanshu Shukla, deputy commissioner of police (DCP)- Crime branch.

It is learnt that FICN network is mainly operated from a village in Bangladesh called Mansoorpur, which is near the bordering town of Malda in West Bengal. According to sources, more than 60% youth in Mansoorpur is involved in pumping FICN to India, via Nepal, Pakistan and Dubai.  

During investigation, cops have also learnt about two brothers – Rakho and Altaf – who were involved in circulating FICN from their base in Bangladesh. Using the route from bordering town of Malda in West Bengal, the duo allegedly pumped in FICN to the state. However, cops are yet to find the duo, who they believe, have fled to Bangladesh or are hiding in West Bengal.