Ever-changing modus operandi of fake currency racket baffles police

PRAYAGRAJ: Over the years, racketeers involved in circulation of fake currency in UP have managed to dodge police by using code words which are constantly changing, and hence, difficult to comprehend. Their current vocabulary, for example, includes words like ‘maal’ for fake currency, ‘chhota’ for Rs 500 fake note and ‘bada’ for Rs 2000 fake note. This was decoded by the Special Task Force (STF) which busted an interstate module in the city.
The STF arrsted a key racketeer identified as Rupesh Kumar, resident of Nawabganj, on Tuesday in Kydganj area.Fake currency worth Rs one lakh was seized from his possession. His arrest has helped UP police bust the fake currency rakhet operating in the state.
Interestingly, there was no pumping of fake currency from Indo-Bangladesh border to UP towns during the West Bengal Assembly elections and the lockdown period.
Investigations also revealed that demand for fake notes of Rs 500 was much higher than the fake notes of Rs 2,000 as racketeers prefer to operate in rural markets to circulate fake currency.
Deputy SP (STF) Navendu Kumar told TOI, “Apart from frequently altering the modus operandi, racketeers currently use words like maal for fake currency and Bada and Chota for Rs 2000 and Rs 500 fake notes respectively.”
“The seized fake currency is so finely printed that it’s not an easy task to differentiate between fake and genuine notes in one look,” he added.
The DSP further said that Vaishav Nagar, Jayainpur, Kalika Chak and Chauriyantpur in Malda districts of West Bengal are hotspots for smuggling fake currency across the country, and all racketeers collect fake currency notes from Indo-Bangladesh border for circulation in state.
“A racketeer pays Rs 40,000 in cash (genuine notes) to the supplier in order to get Rs one lakh fake currency in denominations of Rs 2000,“ said the official, adding “The racketeer has to pay Rs 45,000 genuine currency to the supplier if he wants fake currency worth Rs one lakh in denominations of Rs 500.”
The DSP said that racketeers often rope in needy college students or unemployed youths to smuggle in fake currency consignments from Malda to East and West UP districts on the basis of commission. Smugglers prefer train routes for transportation of fake currency consignments as they find rail the safest mode of transport for their nefarious designs.
The racketeers do not keep the fake currency at their homes and hand it over to the agents at the earliest.
STF is currently looking for one Ramu Sahu, resident of Atrampur (Nawabganj) in trans-Ganga area, who was recruiting youths and agents to bring fake currency consignments from Malda and Farakka in West Bengal. STF said that Ramu is the key racketeer who has been circulating fake currency in East UP districts including Prayagraj.
Intelligence agencies have also come to know about one Deepak Mandal, resident of Jaiyanpur village (Malda), his brother Shyam Mandal and cousin Kanchan Mandal, who were key operators in pumping fake currency to different states of the country.
The special cell of Delhi police had arrested Deepak and seized fake currency worth Rs 5.50 lakh from his possession on December 12, 2017. Deepak was described by the police as one of the key players in the fake currency racket who was active on the Indo-Bangladesh border. He was later bailed out.
The racketeers involved in fake currency circulation frequently visited Kaliachakarea and Malda in West Bengal. On July 19, 2019, a team of STF (Prayagraj unit) had arrested a man identified as Achchelal Chaurasia alias Bachche Lal Chaurasia, resident of Pratapgarh, along with his four accomplices, and seized fake currency worth Rs 2.42 lakh from their possession, thus proving that the menace of fake currency rackets prevails since a long time.