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The Anti Terrorists Section (ATS) of Mumbai police has unearthed a big fake currency racket operating from Kolkata.

Three arrests have been made. Investigations have revealed that the arrested men had connections with some terrorist outfits operating in Jammu and Kashmir.

The secret operation was carried out a couple of weeks ago with the assistance of the West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department.

The revelation came with the arrest of one person identified as Shyamal Mondol from Mumbai. Shyamal originally belongs to West Bengal and was operating from Mumbai for the past one year.

It was Shyamal who disclosed names of one Shankar Dutta of North 24-Parganas and Sheikh Jehangir alias Nantu of Tiljala as his associates in dispatching fake currencies to J&K, Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai.

One matter caused worries for the investigators after the trio revealed that every month Rs 25 lakh worth of fake Indian currency is entering India through the Bangladesh border.

Acting on a tip off, the deputy commissioner of police, ATS-Mumbai, Nawal Bajaj raided a Mumbai hideout and picked up Shyamal. "We won't reveal the place from where he was arrested but we have seized enough materials including some documents and mobile phones to prove his involvement with subversive elements," Bajaj told Hindustan Times over the telephone from Mumbai.

The ATS officers became more worried when the arrested men claimed that agents in Bangladesh are engaged in pouring huge numbers of fake currencies in India.

The modus operandi was simple: agents working on behalf of extremist groups all over the country had to deposit Rs 25,000 original Indian currency in Sheikh Jehangir's bank account with a reputed bank in Kolkata. As soon as the money was deposited Jehangir would arrange for the dispatch Rs 1 lakh worth of fake Indian currencies to the depositors. Shankar and Shyamal worked in reaching the money to the recipients.

During interrogation Jehangir revealed names of two Pakistanis operating from Bangladesh. One of them is Sohail a resident of the Gujranwala and Juber a resident of the Rawalpindi in Pakistan. Presently both are staying at Nurnagar in the Satkhira area in Bangladesh.

In December 23, 2003, the state police had set up a special investigating team to probe the counterfeit currency racket. The team was formed following the arrest of a youth identified as Mohammed Afzal alias Amzad from Gujarat with counterfeit Indian currency worth Rs 10 lakh in his possession. Afzal originally belongs to Nadia in West Bengal. The arrest was made by the Revenue intelligence officers.

Soon after the arrest, the then director general of West Bengal police DC Vajpai convened a meeting with senior revenue intelligence officers, BSF and CID and Intelligence Bureau to work out a strategy to fight the currency racket. "But despite that we failed to identify the people operating on the other side of the border. It's a serious problem and spreads all over India," a senior CID officer said.

Email author: sujit.nath@hindustantimes.com