India, Bangladesh discuss bilateral mechanisms to combat smuggling of fake currency

A meeting between the Joint Task Force of India and Bangladesh set up in 2014 to combat smuggling of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) was held on Wednesday.

The 3-day long meeting of the force discussed measures to further strengthen the bilateral mechanism to curb smuggling and circulation of fake currency notes, an official release said.

Y. M. Belalur Rahman, Deputy Inspector General, Bangladesh Police, Dhaka headed the Bangladesh delegation, whereas, the Indian delegation was headed by Anil Shukla, Inspector General, National Investigation Agency (NIA), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

During the meeting, both countries raised their concerns about the illegal smuggling and circulation of Fake Currency Notes and its "destabilizing influence" on the economy of the two nations.

The Indian side highlighted the major cases of detection of FICN smuggling and seizures in Bangladesh and gave details about the criminals in FICN syndicates. Both side emphasised on the need to develop a mechanism to share authentic information about FCN/FICN operatives across the border of both nations.

During the meeting, Nodal Officers from both sides were nominated to serve as focal contact points for sharing information regarding FICN operatives, exchange of interrogation reports, dossiers of the accused etc. through quickest means using information technology.

"The Indian side also suggested the Bangladesh side to conduct an operation on suspicious bank accounts of bordering areas of Bangladesh through BFIU of Bangladesh Bank to monitor suspicious accounts having unusual movement of funds, such as dummy accounts or mule accounts and raise a red-flag for further analysis to dismantle the network of FICN racketeers," said officials in a press statement sharing details of the meeting.

Later, during the meeting, the Bangladesh side highlighted the legal measures available to penalize counterfeiting of currency notes.

"It was also highlighted that during detection, FICN operatives based in third countries beyond India and Bangladesh, add a challenge in curbing the menace. Both countries resolved to jointly fight the same with fullest cooperation," read the release.

The Bangladesh delegation comprised members from Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), National Board of Revenue (NBR), Bangladesh Bank and representatives of High Commission of Bangladesh in New Delhi while Indian delegation consisted of representatives from Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, Central Bureau of Investigation, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Border Security Force, Delhi Police, West Bengal Police and SPIMCL among others.