Pakistani terrorists using Malaysia as transit point for fake rupees

Pakistani terrorists are using Malaysia as a transit point for the movement of counterfeit Indian rupees into India to destabilise the country.

Indian Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis senior researcher Brigadier S.K. Saini said the transfer of fake notes had been going on for some time but had worsened in the last five years.

"The latest incident occurred in October last year when Indian authorities intercepted a large consignment of fake Indian rupees en route from Malaysia to India."

He declined to state the exact amount involved but said the overall figure from Malaysia and other countries ran into billions of rupees.

Saini said the movement of counterfeit currency continued unchecked despite concerted efforts by Indian and Malaysian authorities.

"The Pakistani elements behind this racket are doing this to create confusion and destabilise India," he told the New Straits Times.

It is understood that counterfeit rupees are also being smuggled into India from Nepal and Bangladesh.

Saini said the Pakistanis behind the activity were engaging in "economic terrorism" by undermining the buoyant Indian economy.

He said Pakistani terrorists who used to smuggle the counterfeit notes across the Pakistan-India border had stopped doing so because of tighter border controls.

He said the notes were printed in Pakistan, which had equipment to produce high quality fake currency.

Saini said the terrorists' objective were two-pronged --to undermine the Indian fiscal sector and set up legitimate companies and businesses to fund their terrorist activities in India. He said the fake notes were of such high quality that even experts in India could not tell them apart.

"We are working with the Malaysian authorities on a more concerted basis to put an end to this illegal activity."

On why Malaysia had been chosen for this activity, he said it was because of the huge number of people travelling between Malaysia and India.

"Malaysia was on our intelligence radar well before the November 26 attack by Pakistani terrorist in Mumbai. We are continuing to monitor Malaysia in terms of it being used as transit point for Pakistani terrorists."

NST online
15/01/09

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