08-06-2008, 12:21 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> Uttar Pradesh a nerve centre of fake money racket
Atiq Khan
Fake notes with a face value of Rs.20 lakh recovered from Domariaganj branch of the State Bank of India
It was printed in Pakistan and entered U.P. through Kathmandu, Dhaka
Role of Pakistanâs Inter-Services Intelligence not ruled out
LUCKNOW: Fake currency with a face value of Rs.20 lakh (20 wads of notes of thousand-rupee denomination) has been recovered from the currency chest of the Domariaganj branch of the State Bank of India in Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, bordering Nepal, the police disclosed here on Tuesday.The sensational seizure was made by a team of Reserve Bank of India officials who raided the branch on Monday at the behest of the Uttar Police Special Task Force. Another sum of Rs.70 lakh (14,000 notes in the denomination of Rs.500), for which entries were made in the bankâs cash register, was missing from the chest.
On July 29, the branch cashier Sudhakar Tripathi had been arrested and sent to jail after the police seized Rs.7.19 lakh in genuine currency and fake notes with a face value of Rs.5,000 from his residence. Tripathi allegedly worked in tandem with Abid Sheikh alias Pandit, who was arrested by the STF in Domariaganj the same day. Pandit was allegedly found in possession of fake currency with a face value of Rs.5 lakh. Interrogation showed that he brought the money from Nepal.
Over Rs.50 lakh in fake currency has been seized from Aligarh, Bijnor, Lucknow and Siddharthnagar since a racket was unearthed by the STF in May this year.
Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order and STF) Brij Lal said here on Tuesday that since the RBI team was examining the fake notes seized from SBI Domariaganj, the amount of fake currency is likely to increase. He said the number, 5CK756601, printed on the fake notes in the denomination of Rs.1,000 was found to be common in all 20 packets.
âInvestigations are under way,â he told journalists.
Sources in the STF said the fake currency was printed in Pakistan and entered UP through Kathmandu and Dhaka. STF sleuths have not ruled out the possibility of the Pakistan-based Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) playing facilitator in the nefarious trade.
Panditâs name in the racket surfaced after the STF arrested here on July 25 four persons, who were found to be in possession of counterfeit currency with a face value of Rs.16 lakh.
On being interrogated, the leader of the four, Suhel Singh, said the money had been supplied to them by Pandit, a resident of Jamoti Thana at Domariaganj in Siddharthnagar district.
Singh also told his interrogators that the fake currency travelled from Kathmandu to Bihar and then to UP through agents and sub-agents. The fake currency was distributed along with genuine notes in different places in eastern UP. Following the arrest of Pandit and recovery of fake currency from the cashierâs residence on July 29, Mr. Lal wrote to the RBI Regional Director on July 30 asking that bank branches in the districts bordering Nepal â Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Basti, Siddharthnagar, Balrampur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit and Bahraich â be examined. Aligarh, Meerut and Ghaziabad districts in western UP were also mentioned in his letter.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Atiq Khan
Fake notes with a face value of Rs.20 lakh recovered from Domariaganj branch of the State Bank of India
It was printed in Pakistan and entered U.P. through Kathmandu, Dhaka
Role of Pakistanâs Inter-Services Intelligence not ruled out
LUCKNOW: Fake currency with a face value of Rs.20 lakh (20 wads of notes of thousand-rupee denomination) has been recovered from the currency chest of the Domariaganj branch of the State Bank of India in Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, bordering Nepal, the police disclosed here on Tuesday.The sensational seizure was made by a team of Reserve Bank of India officials who raided the branch on Monday at the behest of the Uttar Police Special Task Force. Another sum of Rs.70 lakh (14,000 notes in the denomination of Rs.500), for which entries were made in the bankâs cash register, was missing from the chest.
On July 29, the branch cashier Sudhakar Tripathi had been arrested and sent to jail after the police seized Rs.7.19 lakh in genuine currency and fake notes with a face value of Rs.5,000 from his residence. Tripathi allegedly worked in tandem with Abid Sheikh alias Pandit, who was arrested by the STF in Domariaganj the same day. Pandit was allegedly found in possession of fake currency with a face value of Rs.5 lakh. Interrogation showed that he brought the money from Nepal.
Over Rs.50 lakh in fake currency has been seized from Aligarh, Bijnor, Lucknow and Siddharthnagar since a racket was unearthed by the STF in May this year.
Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order and STF) Brij Lal said here on Tuesday that since the RBI team was examining the fake notes seized from SBI Domariaganj, the amount of fake currency is likely to increase. He said the number, 5CK756601, printed on the fake notes in the denomination of Rs.1,000 was found to be common in all 20 packets.
âInvestigations are under way,â he told journalists.
Sources in the STF said the fake currency was printed in Pakistan and entered UP through Kathmandu and Dhaka. STF sleuths have not ruled out the possibility of the Pakistan-based Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) playing facilitator in the nefarious trade.
Panditâs name in the racket surfaced after the STF arrested here on July 25 four persons, who were found to be in possession of counterfeit currency with a face value of Rs.16 lakh.
On being interrogated, the leader of the four, Suhel Singh, said the money had been supplied to them by Pandit, a resident of Jamoti Thana at Domariaganj in Siddharthnagar district.
Singh also told his interrogators that the fake currency travelled from Kathmandu to Bihar and then to UP through agents and sub-agents. The fake currency was distributed along with genuine notes in different places in eastern UP. Following the arrest of Pandit and recovery of fake currency from the cashierâs residence on July 29, Mr. Lal wrote to the RBI Regional Director on July 30 asking that bank branches in the districts bordering Nepal â Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Basti, Siddharthnagar, Balrampur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit and Bahraich â be examined. Aligarh, Meerut and Ghaziabad districts in western UP were also mentioned in his letter.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->