India to nail Pak for fake notes

With India having collected concrete evidence against Pakistan for allegedly printing and circulating fake Indian currency notes (FICNs), New Delhi will for the first time name Islamabad at international fora soon. An official said: “India will first approach the Financial Action Task Force—an inter-governmental body-—whose purpose is the development and promotion of national and international policies to combat money laundering and terror financing. Subsequently, the matter will be raised before World Bank, IMF and Interpol.” Government sources said that a detailed dossier was being prepared incorporating the findings of various agencies like the CBI and the NIA, which had over the years collected evidence, on how the FICNs were being printed at Quetta in Balochistan using “sophisticated machines” and “curake Indian currency. The chargesheet had said: “After thoroughly examining the FICNs, it can be concluded that the notes have been printed on highly sophisticated machines which a common man cannot acquire since such machines involve huge capital investment. The perfection of window and watermarks formation indicate the manufacture of FICN paper on regular currency making machines which can only be owned by a country/state.”
The chargesheet also said: “The willful circulation of such high-quality FICNs printed abroad and smuggled into the country with the intent to threaten the economic security and sovereignty of India, therefore, tantamounts to a terrorist act committed to cause damage and destruction of India’s legal tender and monetary system, thereby impeding the economic security of India.” Besides, the security agencies in India recently intercepted conversation between some Pakistani officials and their Indian agents which suggested that FICNs totaling Rs 40 crore were ready to be sent to India. Only recently, the CBI had busted a racket by arresting seven persons in Delhi, Haryana, Bihar and Bengal. Fake currency notes totaling Rs 1 crore—mostly in denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 100 —were recovered from their possession. “This gang had got all the FICNs from Pakistan. A forensic examination of the seized currency notes suggests that the paper used for the purpose was the one which was actually meant for printing Pakistan’s currency,” said a senior official.