Dhaka, Delhi agree to control fake currency
India and Bangladesh have agreed on developing a mechanism to share authentic information on operatives of fake currency notes on both sides of the border.
At the fifth Joint Task Force meeting held in New Delhi from August 26 to 28, two nodal officers from both sides were nominated to serve as focal contact points for sharing information regarding fake Indian currency note (FICN) operatives, exchange of interrogation reports and dossiers of the accused through quickest means using information technology, India’s National Investigation Agency said in a statement.
The Indian side highlighted the major cases of detection of FICN smuggling and seizures of fake currency in Bangladesh and gave details about the criminals in syndicates and gang leaders of rackets, it said.
The Indian side suggested that Bangladesh conduct an operation on suspicious bank accounts in bordering areas of Bangladesh through the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Bangladesh Bank to monitor unusual movement of funds such as dummy accounts or “mule” accounts and raise a red flag for further analysis to dismantle the network of FICN racketeers, according to the statement.
The Bangladesh side highlighted the legal measures available to penalise counterfeiting of currency notes and also discussed at length about the recent achievements made by them in the detection and seizure of FICN in Bangladesh.
“It was also highlighted that during detection, FICN operatives based in third countries beyond India and Bangladesh add a challenge in curbing the menace,” the statement said.
In order to combat smuggling of fake Indian currency notes, India and Bangladesh set up a joint task force in 2014 and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) were signed between two countries.
The Bangladesh delegation at the fifth joint task force meeting was led by YM Belalur Rahman, deputy inspector general of Police Headquarters (PHQ) and comprised members from Border Guard Bangladesh, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh Bank and representatives of the High Commission of Bangladesh in New Delhi.
The Indian delegation was headed by Anil Shukla, inspector general, National Investigation Agency and consisted of representatives from home and external affairs ministries, Central Bureau of Investigation, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Border Security Force, Delhi Police and West Bengal Police among others.