Fake currency gangs on the prowl ahead of Eid

Like in previous years, gangs producing fake currency notes have become active in the country ahead of the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr, especially targeting the sacrificial animal markets.
During the past one month, law enforcing agencies, in at least four drives, arrested members of at least four such gangs in Dhaka and Chittagong.
On Wednesday night, Rapid Action Battalion arrested five members of a fake currency gang, including a sacked junior official of the state-run Agrani Bank, from two separate areas of the capital along with counterfeit notes amounting to over Tk one crore.
RAB said on Wednesday night they arrested Fatema Begum, 25, and Rubina Begum, 24, both wives of a
man named Md Abdur Rahim, from their Banasree residence in the capital, and seized fake currency worth Tk 78 lakh from their bedroom.
They also seized sophisticated equipment used in making the fake currency from the bedroom where they ran a small fake note-making operation.
Later, with information extracted from the two women, RAB arrested Md Abdur Rashid, 52 and Md Dulal, 30 from their Jurain residence and seized fake currency worth Tk 23 lakh from their possession.
RAB also arrested Md Sarwar Hossain, 23, of Kabutorpara under Keraniganj and seized fake currency worth Tk two lakh and Tk 23,800 in real currency from his possession.
RAB said that arrested Abdur Rashid was a junior officer at Agrani bank and was sacked in the late nineties for irregularities and also served two years in jail.
A RAB release said that all the five confessed to their involvement in making and spreading fake currency notes.
RAB said that the gang had already spread over Tk one crore and had planned to circulate a further Tk 2 crore in fake currency ahead of the upcoming Eid.
‘Every year, some organised gangs become active ahead of Eid, especially targeting the sacrificial animal markets,’ the release said.
Earlier on September 1 night, the detective branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police in separate drives in Paltan and Kotowali area in the capital arrested eight members of a gang of currency counterfeiters and seized from them fake notes worth Tk 52 lakh and Indian Rs 8,000.
Detectives also had seized equipment from their possession.
On August 6 night, RAB arrested 10 people, including nine foreigners, in possession of a huge amount of counterfeit notes and equipment from the Bashundhara residential area in the capital.
On Aug 11, police arrested a man with 20 fake notes of Tk 1,000 denomination from Banglabazar area under Bayezid Bostami police station in Chittagong city.