New notes seziure hints smuggling back along India-Bangladesh border

BSFseized Rs 29.70 lakh in new Rs 2,000 notes from two people at Nokchi in West Garo Hills District

With Income Tax department cracking the whip on black money hoarders, several Indians are reportedly sending their illegitamte cash in new notes to Bangladesh via coal assignments.

According to a report in Times of India, the Border Security Force had on Thursday seized Rs 29.70 lakh in new Rs 2,000 notes from two people at Nokchi in West Garo Hills District in Meghalaya. The money belonging to an Indian cloth merchant was meant to be delivered to one coal exporter at Gasuapara in Meghalaya. Gasuapara is the export hub of coal for the Garo Hills region and from here huge quantities of coal are sent to Bangladesh through international trade on an annual basis.

“The porous India-Bangladesh border is a known conduit for entry of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) by some Bangladeshi racketeers who are also involved in smuggling of cattle from India. The reverse flow is possible and Indians could be sending their black money to Bangladesh through the same racketeers,” a source was quoted as saying by Times of India.

The seizure has led to doubts that the money was meant for smuggling into Bangladesh through coal consignments.

Intelligence agencies are also looking into a possible terror link to the seized money, a source told Times of India.

Smuggling of currency notes along India’s border with Bangladesh is not new.

According to a report in Livemint, while the smuggling of fake currency on the border has been on the rise over the past eight years, it saw a reduction from Rs 2.87 crore in 2015 to Rs1.53 crore in 2016, as of the third week of November, post the government's demonetisation move. 

Another report in the Hindu said in the last three years, FICN worth Rs 6.6 crore has been seized by security forces. Eighty-five persons, including 11 Bangladeshi nationals, have been arrested. This year alone Rs 1.35 crore was seized and 19 people arrested.

Earlier, an Air Car Airline, a private charter wwas grounded for allegedly allowing a passenger to carry Rs 3.5 crore in old notes from Haryana's Hisar to Dimapur in Nagaland.

The charter company, despite being aware of the government's effort to crack down  on black money, failed to report the passenger to the air traffic control (ATC) in Dimapur, for which the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has cancelled its "security programme".

Since November 8, there have been several cases in which people rented charter planes from small airfields without proper security checks to transport old notes.