Accused Alam Ansari is from Nepal, police have said.

Fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s name has reportedly cropped up in connection to an international fake Indian currency notes (FICN) ring busted by Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Saturday.

The police claimed to have recovered fine-quality fake Indian currency notes amounting to Rs 5.50 lakh in denominations of Rs 2,000 and arrested Nepal national Alam Ansari, a key supplier.

Ansari reportedly told interrogators that the three people who handed him the consignment in Nepal said it was sent by Dawood Ibrahim from Pakistan.

ROUTED FROM PAKISTAN VIA NEPAL

The FICNs were being routed from Pakistan via Nepal, and circulated in Delhi-NCR, Bihar and other parts of India, the police have said.

Raxaul in Bihar, along the Indo-Nepal border, was used to smuggle in the FICNs, Ansari told interrogators.

HOW WAS THE FICN RING BUSTED

The Special Cell received a tip-off around four months back about FICNs being smuggled into India from Pakistan through Nepal by an international syndicate.

Sources were activated, surveillance mounted on members of the syndicate and intelligence collected.

On August 24, police received specific information that a Nepal national named Aslam Ansari, a key member of the syndicate, would reach Delhi at Nehru Place bus terminal around 2 pm to deliver a big consignment of FICN to a contact.

A trap was laid and Ansari was held with 275 high-quality FICNs in denominations of Rs 2,000, amounting to Rs 5.50 lakh.

THE NEPAL CONNECTION

Interrogation revealed that Ansari used to receive FICNs from three men, namely Abdul Rehman, Sajjad and Sher Mohammad all Nepal nationals.

Ansari further supplied FICNs in India through other members of this syndicate, who are residents of Raxaul.

He has been in this business for five years and his syndicate has supplied FICNs amounting to Rs 1 crore in the last one year, police said.

FAKE NOTES IN CIRCULATION

After demonetisation in 2016, there was a pause in the circulation of FICNs from Pakistan, but since last year, many such syndicates have again started smuggling and circulating fake notes in India.

Initially, these FICNs were pumped into India from Bangladesh through Malda in West Bengal, but now they are reportedly being smuggled into India from Pakistan via Nepal.

All the recovered FICNs are of such fine quality that it is difficult for the naked eye to make the distinction. These fake notes have almost similar security features, i.e. fine paper quality, colour, security thread, watermarks etc.

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