Fake notes racket busted in Nepal, Madhya Pradesh police claims credit

BHOPAL - Police in Madhya Pradesh Monday claimed that the arrest of the son of a former Nepali minister in Kathmandu for running a fake Indian currency racket was through the leads provided by them.

“Nepal Rastriya Janata Dal chairman Yunus Ansari, the kingpin of fake Indian currency notes racket, has been arrested in Kathmandu on the basis of the leads provided by us to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBl) which subsequently passed it on to agencies in Nepal,” an official of the Anti Terror Squad (ATS) said.

Yunus, son of Nepal’s former forest minister Salim Ansari, who supported deposed king Gyanendra, was caught with two Pakistani accomplices and his bodyguard allegedly in possession of fake notes with a face value of Rs.19 lakh, the official said.

The ATS had in August 2009 arrested two Nepali citizens - Rajesh Gupta, 42, and Ateeq Ahmad, 43 - with fake currency notes at Bhopal railway station.

During interrogation, they named Yunus and a member of Nepal’s former royal family as masterminds behind the racket, police sources said.

“Ansari was nowhere on records of any Indian agency before he was named by Gupta and Ateeq,” said ATS chief Pawan Srivasatava.

“Later ATS gathered details of over two dozen fake currency runners, across the state, having connection with Ansari and prepared a dossier and forwarded it to other investigating agencies which lead to the kingpin’s arrest,” he said.