Gangs find time before Eid ideal for offloading forged currencies
At least a dozen of forger gangs are active across the country and using the shopping rush of Eid-ul Fitr to spread fake notes in the market, say detectives.
The gangs use computer technology and chemicals for making fake notes of Tk 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 denominations, said police sources, adding that the counterfeiters usually use their relatives and poor women for marketing the fake notes.
Eid is the best season for supplying fake notes, as a huge number of people gather in markets during this time and they seldom have the chance to check each and every note they handle.
On Thursday night, the Detective Branch (DB) of police busted three people in the capital’s Paltan area and seized counterfeit money worth Tk 6.40 lakh from their possession.
The arrestees — Mohammad Sujon, 25, Abdur Rahim, 22, and Bilash Akand, 24 — were produced at a press briefing at the Dhaka Metropolitan Media and Community Service office in the capital yesterday.
Mashiur Rahman, additional deputy commissioner (west) of DB, told reporters that a team of DB police had arrested the trio from in front of Gazi Bhaban around 9:00pm, acting on a tip off.
He said they had also beefed up vigilance as the intelligence had information that a dozen of forger gangs had been active during the Ramadan.
In the briefing, Sujon confessed to selling fake notes in retail and wholesale markets in Sadarghat, Gulistan and Motijheel areas for a year.
“I used to buy counterfeit money of the value of Tk 1 lakh with Tk 15,000 from one Kamal and supply those among general people in exchange for goods,” he added.
He, however, did not know the whereabouts of Kamal and other counterfeiters.
“It takes 10 to 12 days to sell fake notes of Tk 1 lakh in normal times, but the same amount of forged money sells in seven to eight days during Eid season. That is why, supply of fake notes increases during this time,” he added.
On July 26 and 27, DB police arrested six people, including two women, with fake currency to the tune of Tk 1 crore from Motijheel, Mugda and Mirpur areas of the capital.
Quoting leader of the gang Mohammad Selim as saying during the interrogation, detectives said they used to purchase new notes of Tk 100 denomination from Gulistan and different banks in the city at a much higher rate and remove the print on the note by boiling it in chemical-mixed water. After removing the print, they used to reprint the features of a Tk 500 on the washed paper and released the fake notes in markets via their partners, especially women in veils, he added.
Selim also admitted to making fake notes of Tk 1,000 on new pieces of paper. He installed special software, developed by a local IT expert, in his computer and this enabled him to make four fake notes of Tk 1,000 in five minutes.
Police arrested a man with fake Tk 4 lakh on June 12, four persons including a woman with fake Tk 3.29 lakh on April 30 and two men with fake Tk 10.4 lakh on March 30 in the capital.
Mashiur Rahman, who led the drives, told The Daily Star, “We detain people with fake currency quite regularly and are tying to arrest rest of the gangs as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Bank has asked its branch offices and all commercial banks to be cautious about fake notes, especially ahead of the Eid. The central bank has also sought cooperation from the law enforcement agencies in this regard. Besides, fake note resistance committees comprised of representatives of banks, police and local administration have been asked to remain alert at district level.
“It is true that counterfeiters become active during Eid seasons. We have directed all the commercial banks to use fake currency identifier machines. If any bank fails to comply with the direction, stern actions would be taken against it,” said AFM Asaduzzaman, general manager of Bangladesh Bank.
Zeauddin Ahmed, managing director of Securities Printing Corporation (Bangladesh) Ltd, said people should learn the security features on big notes, as law enforcers and the central bank alone cannot stop counterfeiting.
“An easy way to tell fake notes from the good ones is the inscription printed on the top right corner on both sides of Tk 100, 500 and 1,000 denominations. If the notes are held vertically, the colour of the inscription changes from magenta to green or the other way round,” he added.
-With The Daily Star input
