NIA probing JMB’s fake currency business

The Burdwan blasts case is learnt to have given India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) a sub-plot for probing Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh’s (JMB) involvement in the fake Indian currency notes (FICN) business.

A home ministry official in New Delhi told bdnews24.com that jihadi activists are involved in pumping FICN to destabilise India’s economy.

“The NIA is investigating this angle,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Indian intelligence agencies believe that FICN are used to fund the activities of outfits such as JMB and Indian Mujahideen (IM) in the country.

Earlier, a NIA team visited Bangladesh and met the officials of the Bangladesh home ministry and discussed issues relating to FICN smuggling.

“During their four-day visit to Dhaka, the NIA team shared vital information related to the circulation of fake notes in India and the people involved with the flourishing racket,” the official said.

Evidences derived in three cases investigated by NIA have suggested that the Bangladesh border was used to smuggle fake currency in.

It is believed that NIA has many vital clues about the involvement of Northeast India-based militant organisations with the FICN business.

Officials at North Block – it houses the home ministry – believe that some Assam-based insurgent outfits including United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) might be involved in the FICN trade.

Muslim fundamentalist outfits in Assam are also on the radar of the security agencies.

“There is every possibility that under influence of several external forces, the Northeast-based militant organisations may get involved in fake notes business only to crash our economy,” a senior home ministry official handling Northeast affairs said.

Both New Delhi and Dhaka have constituted a Joint Task Force to fight the FICN menace.

Official data reveal that fake currency notes worth Rs 10,534,205 were seized from across Assam and Meghalaya during the last three years.