By TIOL News Service

VIZAG, APRIL 01, 2018: THE DRI sleuths yesterday intercepted two passengers travelling in East Coast Express from Howrah to Hyderabad near Vizag and, on search of their baggage, they were found to be carrying Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) in 5 bundles (Total 510 pieces of 2000 denomination currency notes). The FICN was packed in newspaper and kept in a pillow in their luggage bag.

The passengers on interrogation stated that the said FICN was obtained from a person who allegedly brought the same from Bangladesh and handed over to them at a place called “FARAKKA”, which is few kilometers away from “MALDA” in West Bengal, a known hub for FICN circulation.

The accused belong to Bengaluru, Karnataka and on inquiry further stated that they intended to exchange the FICN during the forthcoming elections in Karnataka, as it would be easy for them to exchange during the election period. One of the two accused was having criminal back ground and was earlier arrested in Bengaluru in a kidnap case and was presently out on bail.

Both the persons have been booked in this case of smuggling of the FICN into the Country, under the provisions of Customs Act 1962. The said FICN, having face value of INR 10,20,000/- has been seized under Customs Act 1962.

In another case, the Kolkata DRI intercepted three persons at Howrah Junction from a Howrah bound local train on March 28 and recovered 34 gold bars of foreign origin cumulatively weighing 5.60 kg valued at Rs. 1.68 Crore.

Gold smuggled from Myanmar through Moreh in Manipur was carried by 3 persons on Saraighat Express train from Guwahati to Howrah. They disembarked at a station before Howrah and on took a local train. Gold was concealed in their shoes. Two among the three were found to be habitual offenders and had earlier been booked in a case at Siliguri by DRI. 

The recovered gold bars have been seized and and all the three apprehended persons were arrested under the provisions of Customs Act 1962 and produced before the Court of CMM Kolkata which remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days.

DRI is the lead agency to combat cross border crime involving smuggling of gold, consumer goods, drugs and narcotics, wild life articles, Fake Indian Currency Notes and counterfiet goods, import-export frauds and trade based money laundering.

Northeastern region including Assam having boundaries with Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and China is particularly sensitive from the perspective of smuggling acitivities and cross border crime. There have been significant seizures of gold bars of foreign origin smuggled from Myanmar through the Indo-Myanmar border adjacent to Moreh and also from the Zokhawthar border with Myanmar in Mizoram.

Combating this cross border crime in this region poses various challenges on account of factors such as rugged topography and porosity of the borders, lack of economic opportunities and the lure of easy money. To overcome these challenges, in order to further the cause of enforcement of cross border crime, DRI has joined hands with various formations such as Customs, Assam Rifles, BSF, State Police agencies, Forests and Wild Life Crime Cotrol Bureau amongst others in the region.

In the Financial year 2017-18, in the region spread over West Bengal and the North eastern states, the DRI has seized more than 300 kgs of Gold valued at about Rs. 93 Crores in the market, smuggled from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and even Bhutan.