Right Word | Withdrawal of Rs 2,000 Currency Notes is a Death Blow to Narco-Terror Nexus
The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to withdraw the Rs 2,000 currency notes has come as a major blow to the narco-terrorism nexus that poses a new threat to the country’s national security.
Two recent small press releases by National Investigation Agency (NIA) skipped the headlines but are enough to give one a peek into this complex web where fake Rs 2,000 currency notes had become the life-line of this narco-terrorism nexus.
The NIA arrested three persons in a fake currency case in the second week of May from Maharashtra and specifically said that a connection to the D-Company was found. The case was first registered by the Thane police and is known as the ‘Naupada fake currency’ case. The significance of this case from the perspective of national security can be gauged from the fact that it is being investigated now by the NIA, India’s premier agency that deals with cases pertaining to national security. The fake currency seized by Thane police in this case two-years ago primarily consisted of Rs 2,000 fake currency notes.
On May 11, the NIA issued a statement that said, “The National Investigation Agency (NIA)… recovered several incriminating materials during searches at half a dozen locations in Mumbai in the 2021 Naupada case relating to seizure of high quality fake Indian currency notes (FICN). The recovery included sharp edged weapons, digital devices and documents, which is a strong corroboration of NIA’s earlier investigational findings establishing a direct connection with the D-Company in the fake currency racket. Thus the role of the D-Company has been prima facie established in the circulation of FICN in India during the NIA investigation into the case. The case related to the seizure of counterfeit Indian currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination. Two persons were arrested in the case, originally registered at the Naupada police station, Thane City, Maharashtra on 18th November 2021, under relevant sections of IPC and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The accused, identified as Riyaz and Nasir, both residents of Mumbai, are currently in judicial custody.”
The press release issued on May 13 said, “Two days after searches at multiple locations in Maharashtra, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday made another arrest in the 2021 Naupada fake currency case, taking the total arrests to three. The accused, Md Fayaaz Shikilkar, was taken into custody for possession of 12 sharp-edged swords and other incriminating material linking him to the case relating to seizure of high quality fake Indian currency notes (FICN). NIA investigations showed that the accused was in touch with D-company in connection with the fake notes circulation racket. Wednesday’s searches at six locations led to the NIA linking 33-year-old Mohammad Fayaaz, a resident of Mumbai, with the 2021 case, on the basis of certain material recovered from the houses and offices of the accused and suspects.”
With the involvement of D-Company, it is clear that Pakistan is playing a key role in funding this narco-terror network in India from across the border. There are credible inputs available with the security establishment of India that a substantial chunk of these currency notes are also coming through illegal drones flying to India from across the border. These are the same drones who are also being used to push narcotics in India especially in the border states like Punjab and the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
That Rs 2,000 is the life-line of anti-India narco-terrorism nexus becomes clear as a substantial volume of fake Indian currency has been found in the denomination of Rs 2000 notes over the last few years. While replying to a question in Rajya Sabha in December 2022, the union minister of state in the ministry of home affairs Nityanand Rai shared certain details based on the data compiled by national crime records bureau (NCRB). The data shows, relatively higher volume of fake Rs 2,000 notes were found in border states and union territories and areas affected by terrorism and narcotics smuggling. The number of fake Rs 2,000 notes found in these sensitive areas were far higher than the fake currency notes found in relatively less sensitive areas.
In 2019 the number of fake Rs 2000 notes found in Karnataka (23,599), Gujarat (14,494), Kerala (3,559), Maharashtra (6,848), Tamil Nadu (3,208) and West Bengal (13,637) was quite high and in subsequent years these number increased. The total value of fake currency seized was around Rs 25.4 crore in 2019 out of which around Rs 18 crore was in the denomination of fake Rs 2,000 notes.
