New Delhi, Dec 10: With the Indian agencies cracking down heavily on the narcotics trade, Intelligence Bureau officials have warned about an uptick in the smuggling of fake currency notes. In the past two weeks, several operations have been carried out in various parts of the country in which fake currency rackets have been busted.

The fake currency mafia is controlled by the Dawood Ibrahim syndicate, which is based in Pakistan. While the syndicate is trying to find newer routes and partners to further the narcotics trade, it is also stepping up operations relating to fake Indian currency. The ISI needs funds to resurrect its terror groups, which were largely beaten down during Operation Sindoor.

The fake currency racket had taken a slight backseat for some years, but now there are full-fledged plans to resume operations on a very large scale. Malda in West Bengal remains the main hub for this racket in India. Now with an unfriendly regime in place in Bangladesh, the ISI sees an opportunity to scale up operations.

All the fake currency that is being printed in Pakistan is first routed into Bangladesh. The ISI finds no problem in routing fake notes into Bangladesh, as Islamabad and Dhaka have close ties today. The sea route has been opened up, and the visa process is much simpler for Pakistanis, and this is being taken advantage of by the ISI.

From Bangladesh, the operatives push the fake currency into Malda, following which it is circulated across the country. Officials report that apart from West Bengal, mini modules have been set up in various parts of the country. The notes are transported either from Malda or Murshidabad in West Bengal to the rest of the country.

An official said there has been an increase in such cases, as the ISI and D-Syndicate are pushing it massively. There is a desperate need for funds as the ISI is not only trying to revive terror groups in Pakistan, but is also creating another front in Bangladesh. It wants to engage India on both fronts, and hence the simultaneous push is being made, the official explained.

These gangs operating the racket in India have been coming up with various ways to push fake notes into the market. In Gujarat, a gang that was running a money-doubling scam was busted. It was found that victims were lured into the scheme, and they were given fake Indian currency. This gang was operating mainly in Gujarat and Maharashtra, the probe has revealed.

While the Bangladesh-West Bengal route is the primary one for this racket, there is also a fresh push to smuggle these notes through the UAE into Kerala. Over the years, Kasargod in Kerala has become a major hub for smuggling fake currency notes.

M.B. Moosa, Abdul Rahman, K.M. Hamza, Kallatra Abdul Ha Khader Haji, Irabhim Soopi, K.S. Abdullah, and Kadavath Atta are the ones who have been running this racket. The notes from Pakistan would reach these persons through the UAE route.

Officials say that the Kerala route is one of the hardest to control. There is a huge rush at the airports owing to the number of people visiting the Gulf nations. The ISI has taken advantage of the stress on the security mechanism at these airports in Kerala. Most of the time, these persons get away because the customs formations are understaffed. This makes checking everyone difficult.

Further, the detection has also become very difficult owing to the quality of the notes that are being printed. An Intelligence Bureau official said that the notes are printed in government printing presses in Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Multan, and Peshawar. These are the same places where the official Pakistani Rupee is also printed. Hence, the quality of the Indian notes being printed in Pakistan is of very superior quality, and this is making detection a challenge, the officer explained.

The gravity of the problem in India, courtesy this fresh push by Dawood and the ISI, can be seen in a report published by the US State Department. “India faces an increasing inflow of high-quality counterfeit currency, which is produced primarily in Pakistan but smuggled to India through multiple international routes. Criminal networks exchange counterfeit currency for genuine notes, which not only facilitates money laundering but also represents a threat to the Indian economy,” the report says.

Mumbai: An FIR has been filed against 367 people in connection with the illegal obtaining of birth certificates, officials said.

The Mulund Police Station in Mumbai filed an FIR against 367 people, who have been accused of illegally obtaining birth certificates. This comes after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya filed a complaint while naming four individuals and several others as suspects.

The FIR invokes Sections 336(3), 340(2), 318(4), 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 23 of the Birth Registration Act.

The FIR has been registered against those allegedly involved in obtaining certificates through fraudulent means, with many accused of being Bangladeshi immigrants.

Somiaya has been highlighting the issue of Bangladeshi nationals allegedly forging documents to obtain birth certificates. He earlier praised Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after multiple arrests carried out by the police of Bangladeshi nationals involved in such activities.

In December, the BJP leader asserted that the whole racket would be busted in the coming days.

“He (Fadnavis) has instructed the whole Maharashtra Police ATS and district administrations to take strict action against the Rohingya Muslims from Bangladesh who have settled here illegally. I feel that this whole racket will be busted in the coming days,” Somaiya said.

Fadnavis had said that the state has started taking action on illegal Bangladeshi citizens living in Mumbai and Maharashtra, and said that they will soon be deported.

In November, Somaiya had shared that Jalgaon police arrested 43 Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators for allegedly forging court orders to obtain birth certificates. The case, registered as 129/2025, involves the theft of documents and court seals from the Executive Magistrate’s office.

New Delhi, Dec 10: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday criticised Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his foreign travels, saying that he is mostly abroad whenever Parliament is in session.

“Gandhi later claims that he didn’t get a chance to speak in Parliament. However, in reality, he is often absent, calling him “a part-time, non-serious political leader,” the Union Minister said.

“Let him go. He is mostly abroad whenever Parliament is in session. Later, he claims he doesn’t get a chance to speak, but the truth is, he isn’t even here… He is a part-time, non-serious political leader,” he said.

Meanwhile, NCP(SP) MLA Rohit Pawar offered a more measured, though still sceptical, observation: “Whenever Rahul Gandhi goes abroad, he visits some university or speaks with Indians there. But why will he visit Germany? I cannot specifically mention. We will come to know later why he went there…”

According to recent media reports, Gandhi is slated to visit Germany, where he plans to meet with members of the Indian diaspora and German government ministers.

This decision to travel abroad has already triggered sharp reactions from critics within the ruling and allied parties.

As noted by one prominent BJP leader, Gandhi has been repeatedly dubbed ” ‘Videsh Nayak’, going for a foreign tour while Parliament is in session”.

With the Winter Session of Parliament to continue until December 19, the timing of the trip has drawn questions over Gandhi’s commitment to his parliamentary responsibilities.

Gandhi has previously voiced concern over the government’s alleged discouragement of foreign dignitaries from meeting him in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition.

However, the government counters that decisions about meetings with dignitaries lie solely with the visiting delegations, not with Indian authorities, and points to recent instances where Gandhi did meet visiting foreign leaders.