Pak man among those arrested for fake currency racket in Nepal

A Pakistani man was among those arrested with the son of a former Nepalese minister, accused of having links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, on charges of running a fake Indian currency racket, police said today.
Masud Aalam (37), a resident of the Pakistani port city of Karachi, and two Nepalese men - Arjun Lamsal (31) and Sohel Khan (28) - were nabbed yesterday before Yunus Ansari was arrested from his residence at Nakhipot in Lalitpur district near Kathmandu.
Ansari, the son of leading politician Salim Ansari, was freed from Kathmandu Central Jail just six months ago after serving a three-year sentence on a similar charge. He was arrested on a tip off provided by his three accomplices, including the Pakistani.

Police had information that fake Indian currency had arrived on board Pakistan International Airlines flight PK 268 from Pakistan on Thursday.
During the raid, police confiscated 35,000 fake notes of Rs 1,000 denomination from Potala Guest House in Thamel, a tourist hub in Kathmandu.
The police also seized five SIM cards, a Pakistani identity card in the name of Masud Aalam and Indian and Nepali passports belonging to Khan, who is Ansari's brother-in-law.
In January 2010, Nepal Police had arrested Ansari with two Pakistani accomplices and a bodyguard in connection with a fake Indian currency and drugs racket having links to Dawood Ibrahim.

At that time, police recovered fake Indian currency with a face value of Rs 2.5 million and 3.7 kg of heroin from Ansari's bodyguard.