Every time the police crack the whip on them, organised criminal gangs from Malda of West Bengal – notorious for circulating Pakistan-printed Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) – rise like the Phoenix here.

After the police in Hyderabad and Cyberabad busted many such gangs operating here – sometimes having run into them by chance or with specific inputs from informants, they disappeared for some time but resurfaced again.

Members of these gangs collect FICNs, believed to be printed in Pakistan, supported by Intelligence Officials there to sabotage the Indian economy, after they are smuggled into West Bengal through porous borders of Bangladesh.

Then, they arrive in Hyderabad. They check into cheap lodges or rent houses in crowded areas – mostly slums like Borbanda and start circulating counterfeit currency notes of Rs. 500 or Rs. 1,000 denomination by purchasing articles worth less than Rs. 100 like a toothbrush, shaving gel or even vegetables.

Worried about being caught by the police repeatedly, these gangs stopped coming to Hyderabad. Instead of directly operating from here, they found a new way of identifying persons from the districts interested in making a fast buck by circulating FICNs.

This was confirmed when Hyderabad Police Commissioner’s Task Force (North) officials caught a person from Adilabad district, G. Linga Reddy. FICNs with a face value of Rs. 4 lakh were seized from him. Reddy was introduced to one of the Malda gangs through his associate, Anoop, a couple of years ago.

“These gangs try to find persons like Reddy who they think are safe carriers to circulate FICNs in Telangana. Reddy managed to bring in fake currency notes supplied by these gangs and circulated them here,” said a police officer, who probed the case and declined to be identified.

Offenders like Reddy are bringing in FICNs from West Bengal by travelling in buses or trains, making it difficult for the police to suspect them among lakhs of passengers. They travel in the guise of small time businessmen. In fact, TF officials got wind of Reddy hiding the FICNs in sweet packets and caught him.