Watch out, your Rs 500 note could be fake

Amount of fake currency suspected in market: Rs 1,69,000 crore Amount seized by authorities so far: Rs 63 crore
14 ARRESTED : In last two years across India; two alleged Bangladeshis with fake notes killed in encounter
THE LASHKAR LINK :An LeT terrorist in J&K caught talking to his handlers in Pak in January 2008 about fake notes

Around Rs 1,69,000 crore of fake money is in the system. And it’s growing. TOI looks into the growing threat

* Last month, when Maharashtra crime branch and anti-terrorism squad sleuths caught six persons with counterfeit currency worth over Rs 9 lakh, they themselves couldn’t make out the difference between the fake and genuine notes. “They have 95% features of genuine notes,’’ says an official. The provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) have been invoked—for the first time against fake currency.
* Zahoor Ahmad Mir of Rawalpora, Srinagar, withdrew Rs 2,000 from an ATM. He was told by a shopkeeper after his weekend shopping that the currency was fake. A frantic Zahoor rushed to the bank, the ATM of which had coughed up the 500-rupee notes. “But the bank officials refused to accept them. They suspected I had got the fake notes from somewhere else,’’ he says.

The proliferation of fake Rs 500 notes has just got bigger. You never know when you are holding one—or more. Even ATMs are disgorging them, indicating the counterfeits are so good that bankers are failing to detect them. Despite measures taken by RBI, the home ministry and intelligence agencies, the fear of the fake has grown—from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Gujarat to Assam.

Officials say there’s a high volume of fake notes of Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in the market, and that they have had limited success so far in controlling their spread. The Naik committee, set up to assess the menace of fake currency, says counterfeit money worth around Rs 1,69,000 crore is sloshing around the system. And just a tiny fraction of it, Rs 63 crore, has been seized.

Both the government and common people are aware of the problem, but feel ill-equipped to deal with it. In Chandigarh, traders, bank employees and petrol pump attendants turn suspicious whenever they get a Rs 500 note. “A petrol station attendant refused to accept the Rs 500 note I gave him and warned me about the glut of fake notes in the market,’’ said Rajinder Singh, a local resident. Even in Delhi, shopkeepers take extra time to accept high-denomination notes. They first hold the note against bright light and ensure that the water-mark is intact.

Many in Kerala are worried over outsourcing loading of currency in the ATMs to private agencies.”My salary account is with a private bank and I also have a savings account with SBI. Lest I get a counterfeit note, I have now started transferring money only by cheques,’’ says A K Nair, a government employee.

“The extent of the problem can be gauged from the huge gap between actual seizures and circulation of fake Indian currency notes (FICN). Although several steps have been taken by the finance ministry and RBI, weeding out FICNs may take a long time,’’ says a senior home ministry official.

With inputs from Vishwa Mohan & Richi Verma (Delhi), Mateen Hafiz (Mumbai), Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui (Lucknow), Anantha Krishnan, (Thiruvananthapuram), Anand Bodh (Chandigarh) and Gauree Malkarlekar (Panaji)

The Times of India, July 31, 2009

Most fake notes printed in Pakistani presses

TAKE NOTE OF FAKES:
The cost of a manufacturing a fake Rs 1,000 note is about Rs 400 Making, keeping, distributing or using fake notes comes under
organised crime Punishment: Can go up to LIFE SENTENCE

Times News Network
According to security agencies, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, have reported the maximum seizure of fake notes in recent years. The latest haul in Ghaziabad, Noida and Meerut reveal how organized gangs, said to be funded by Pakistan, have penetrated right up to Delhi’s borders.

Shopkeepers’ associations in Delhi are actively involved in monitoring the counterfeits, many of which come out of ATMs and banks. Says Sanjeev Mehra, president of Delhi’s Khan Market Traders’ Association, “Every shopkeeper has been issued a circular listing 10 ways of detecting a fake note. The local bank in the market has an officer posted for this very purpose.’’ Experienced shopkeepers feel the texture of the note, particularly when it’s of a large denomination, and hold it under lights to see the water-mark. However, if this year’s three major seizures—amounting to over Rs 35 lakh— in UP and Maharashtra are any indication, it’s the quality of FICN that has alarmed the security agencies. The paper, say intelligence sleuths, is almost identical to the original, which makes their identification very tough.

The UP STF suggests that most of these notes were printed in the security press at Malir Cantonment in Karachi and three other printing presses in Pakistan. Maharashtra’s security agencies, too, believe that the fake notes seized by them were printed in a Pakistan government printing press at Quetta.

Fearful businessmen and shopkeepers are installing machines to check counterfeits. In Kerala, the state-run SUPPLYCO (Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited) with 12 petrol pumps has issued specific instructions to its outlets to be wary of fake notes.

But there are limitations. For instance, large business outlets that handle heavy transactions can’t run a counterfeit check every time it receives cash. “During a hectic day, one can’t check every Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 note,’’ says Mujtaba Haaziq, manufacturer of signages in Panaji. “In any case, it’s the government’s job to tackle the problem,’’ says Barnabe Sapeco, a well-known Panaji restaurateur. The police say arresting the carriers has not taken them to FICN masterminds. “The carriers are briefed on a need-to-know basis and are not aware of the entire network,’’ said a Maharashtra crime branch official. Intelligence agencies are fairly certain that the brains behind the FICN racket are sitting in Bangladesh and Pakistan. As proof, they cite the seizure of an Indian currency-minting machine in Bangladesh in 2006.

With inputs from Vishwa Mohan & Richi Verma (Delhi), Mateen Hafiz (Mumbai), Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui (Lucknow), Anantha Krishnan, (Thiruvananthapuram), Anand Bodh (Chandigarh) and Gauree Malkarlekar (Panaji)

Work on to get back black money: PM
New Delhi: Under attack from the opposition on the issue of unaccounted money parked by Indians in tax havens abroad, PM Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the government had already initiated steps to get back the black money. “Action has already started,” Singh said in the Rajya Sabha during question hour. Singh referred to the FM’s remarks, saying Pranab Mukherjee had “specifically dealt” with the issue. Singh’s remark came after BJP’s Prakash Javadekar sought to know what his government was doing on the black money. Mukherjee on Wednesday told the Upper House that the government, as promised before the elections, was working on getting back black money stashed abroad.

The Times of India, July 31, 2009

No impact of Dhawde’s discharge on Malegaon case

Pune-based antique dealer, Rakesh Dhawde is currently in judicial custody

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: Pune-based antique weapons collector Rakesh Dhawde, a suspect in the six-year-old Porna mosque blast case, was on Monday discharged from the case. But this will not have an impact on the September 29, 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case where Dhawde is an accused and facing stringent charges under the MCOCA, ATS officials said.

A bomb was thrown in a mosque cum madrassa, Mirajul Uloom, in Porna during Friday prayers in 2003 in which 16 persons were injured. The ATS, which arrested 11 persons, including Dhawde, lieutenant colonel Prasad Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Shankaracharya Dayanand Pandey last year for the Malegaon blast, ‘alleged’ that Dhawde had played a vital role in the blast.

According to ATS officials, Dhawde’s discharge from the Porna mosque blast case will not affect their case. “We invoked the sections of MCOCA after we found that Dhawde was also involved in other blasts and two cases were chargesheeted against him prior to his arrest. The prosecution requires at least two previous chargesheets to book someone under the MCOCA,’’ said an ATS officer.

Dhawde is accused of aiding and abetting bomb blasts in the Porna mosque, Qadriya mosque in Jalna, Mohammediya mosque in Parbhani and one at Nanded. Chargesheets against him have been filed in all the cases. “We have made Parbhani (Nanal Peth police station) and Jalna mosque blast cases the grounds to invoke MCOCA,’’ said an officer.

The Times of India, July 30, 2009

Two killed in Nagpada as gunmen open fire

SCENE OF CRIME: Zahid and his nephew Arshad were killed in Nagpada on Wednesday

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: Two persons, including the owner of a gambling club, were killed and three others injured at Nagpada in Central Mumbai on Wednesday night when unidentified gunmen fired at them.

No arrests have been made although the police suspect that this may be a reprisal for the killing of Irfan Chindi, a top police informer on April 3. He was known to be close to slain encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.

According to the Nagpada police, the persons killed were Zahid alias Chhote Miyan (50) and his nephew Arshad. Zahid was shot in the head and chest while Arshad was shot in the head. The identities of the three injured in the firing have not been disclosed.

Chindi’s family as well as the informants who worked under him had ‘alleged’ that Zahid was behind his murder. In fact, they had staged a protest outside Chindi’s house in Nagpada.

According to the police, Zahid and his friends were sitting outside his club near Taj Cinema in Arab Galli when the killers struck. Some eye-witnesses told the police that two shooters had arrived on a bike while others said that they came walking and fled in a taxi.

The Times of India, July 30, 2009

Husband, wife convicted for Zaveri Bazar, Gateway blasts

SMILING KILLER: Hanif Syed, an auto driver and one of the three persons convicted by the special Pota court, is taken to Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai on Monday

HREE FOUND GUILTY IN 2003 TERROR ATTACK, SENTENCING ON AUG 4

Kartikeya & Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: Six years after the terror attacks at the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazar killed 52 people, a special Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) court on Monday found three of the accused, including a woman, guilty of carrying out the twin blasts. This is the first time that a husband-wife terror team has been convicted and the first instance of a woman terrorist actively participating in making the bombs.

Hanif Syed, now 52, his wife Fehmida Syed, 49, and Ashrat Ansari, 38, face the prospect of being sentenced to death for the attack that was planned in Dubai with the help of Pakistani handlers.

As the court convened, Judge M R Puranik took a few minutes to pronounce the guilty verdict and then adjourned the matter to August 4 for arguments on the quantum of punishment. “I will ask for the strictest possible punishment for the barbaric act that took so many lives,’’ special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told TOI. The convicts now face the prospect of either spending a life behind bars or getting capital punishment.

The prosecution relied on both eyewitness accounts and material evidence to nail the accused. A key eyewitness was the driver of the taxi which was used to carry out the blast at the Gateway. Sheer providence saved Shivnarain Pandey as he was not near the taxi when the bomb went off. He later led the police to the house of the accused in Andheri.

“The whole conspiracy was hatched in Dubai. The same accused had earlier planted bombs at Andheri and Ghatkopar, but those were gelatin sticks. However, their handlers in Pakistan were unhappy with the low-intensity blasts and asked them to go for something bigger. Thus RDX was used at Gateway and Zaveri Bazar, leading to several casualties,’’ Nikam said.

Judge Puranik had before him the confessional statements of the accused, evidence of recovery of the explosive substances from their house and details of the conspiracy given by a co-accused who later turned approver. Nasir Ahmed, the man who was called the chief conspirator in the case, was never brought to trial as he was gunned down in a police encounter in September 2003.

Defence advocate Sushan Kunjuraman said that he would appeal against the verdict to the Bombay high court. “We have argued that Hanif and Fehmida’s minor daughter had been taken into police custody and thus they were under duress to confess to the crime. Also, we have pointed out that the taxi driver had been given money by a political party to give testimony,’’ added defence advocate Khan Abdul Wahab.

Initially, there were two other accused in the case—Mohd Ansari alias Usman Ladoowala and Mohd Ansar Shaikh alias Hasan Batterywala. However, they were discharged by the Supreme Court in 2008 on the basis of a clean chit given by the Pota Review Committee in 2005. They had spent five years in jail.

WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY?
Two powerful blasts took place almost simultaneously in two taxis on the afternoon of August 25, 2003. The first explosion took place at 1.05 pm in crowded Zaveri Bazar in Kalbadevi. Another blast took place just minutes later at the iconic Gateway of India. Fifty-two people (36 at Zaveri Bazar and 16 at the Gateway) were killed and 184 were injured

THE MOTIVE
Revenge. Nasir Ahmed, a resident of Hyderabad who was later killed in a police encounter, along with some LeT operatives, formed the Gujarat Muslim Revenge Force (GMRF) to avenge the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002. The outfit hatched the dastardly plot that was funded from Dubai

LUCKY BREAK Shivnarain Pandey, the driver of the taxi with the bomb parked at the Gateway, decided to answer nature’s call. That decision saved his life and helped him assist the police in tracking down the culprits

BLAST FROM THE PAST
The three accused have been found guilty of murder, attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy under the IPC. They were also convicted under various sections of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota), Explosive Substances Act and Damage to Public Property Act

THE GUILTY TRIO
1. Hanif Syed (52). He worked as an electrician in Dubai and later as an auto driver in Mumbai. Police say he was indoctrinated in Dubai and planted the bomb at the Gateway
2. Fehmida Syed (49). Hanif’s wife
who was also named as a fellow conspirator. She was involved in planting the bomb at the Gateway
3. Ashrat Ansari (38). He was a zari
worker who lived in Andheri and visited Hanif often. He helped make the bombs and planted the one at Zaveri Bazar

WHAT NEXT
On August 4 the court will hear arguments on the quantum of punishment. The trio faces either life in prison or death

The Times of India, July 28, 2009

SUDDENLY, HORROR: Photos taken seconds after the Gateway blast show (top) bloodied tourists sitting dazed after the attack. (Left) A man stares at a mangled vehicle. (Right) A wounded father carries his five-year-old son. A Photoraph by K K Chaudhry

CASE CALENDAR

Aug 25, 2003: Blasts occur at Gateway and Zaveri Bazar, killing 52 people

Aug 31-Sep 1: Ashrat Ansari and the Syeds are arrested

Sep 12: Naseer is killed in encounter

Nov 11: Police arrest Batterywala and Ladoowala

Oct 2: Accused who later turned approver is held

Feb 5, 2004: Charge sheet filed against six accused in Pota court. Accused also allegedly involved in planting an unexploded bomb in a bus at Seepz on Dec 2, 2002 and a bomb that went off in a bus at Ghatkopar on July 28, 2003, in which two people died

May 5: Approver gets pardon from court

Jun 20: Charges framed against accused

Sep 2, 2004: Trial commences

June 28, 2005: Batterywala and Ladoowala ask court to drop Pota charges after a Pota review panel says there’s no evidence against them

Oct 30, 2006: Dileep Wankhede, conductor on Ghatkopar bus, turns hostile in court

Dec 4: Conductor Dileep Masram of bus at SEEPZ turns hostile

Nov 17, 2008: Pota court acquits Ladoowala and Batterywala

Jul 27, 2009: Ansari, Hanif Syed and Fehmida are convicted

Aug 4: Arguments on sentencing to be heard

The Times of India, July 28, 2009

BROUGHT TO JUSTICE: Hanif Syed outside the Pota court on Monday after he was convicted in the twin blasts case in Mumbai. Syed helped make both bombs and planted the one at the Gateway

25/8: ANOTHER INFAMOUS DATE

THE CONVICTS:
HANIF SYED | A Dubai-returned electricianturned-auto driver, he was brainwashed in the Gulf country by Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) agents who recruited him to avenge the killing of Muslims during the Gujarat riots. Hanif helped make the bombs and planted the one at the Gateway. He was reportedly leader of the Gujarat Muslim Revenge Force

FEHMIDA SYED | Hanif’s wife Fehmida was supposed to be one of the first women who willingly took part in the making and planting of bombs. In the 1993 serial blasts, women were accused of knowing about the conspiracy, but not executing it. Fehmida helped make the bombs at home in Andheri (West) and planted the Gateway one

ASHRAT ANSARI | He lived in Juhu Gully, Andheri, where he also worked in an embroidery firm. He also drove an auto. He helped make the bombs at Hanif’s house. Ansari planted the bomb at Zaveri Bazar

THE APPROVER
Name Withheld | He was brought by the police from Dubai, where the entire conspiracy had been hatched. He became an approver in the case and the court ordered that his identity not be disclosed. He was said to be part of the LeT’s Dubai cell

THE KEY WITNESS
SHIVNARAIN PANDEY | The taxi driver had a fortuitous escape. Hanif and Fehmida had hired his cab and asked him to park it at the Gateway while they went shopping. They told Pandey to have lunch while waiting. He left the vehicle to answer nature’s call when the bomb went off in a bag left by the couple in the boot

THE ENCOUNTER DEATH
NASIR AHMED | Termed as the main conspirator of the blasts, he was shot dead in an encounter near Ruparel College in Matunga on the night of September 12, 2003. He was from Hyderabad

THE DISCHARGED:
MOHAMMED ANSAR SHAIKH ALIAS HASAN BATTERYWALA | He was discharged after a Pota review committee gave him a clean chit. The cops claimed they recovered 750 gm of RDX from his auto repair shop in Kurla, but the panel couldn’t believe he would keep explosives when the cops were looking for suspects

MOHAMMAD ANSARI ALIAS USMAN LADOOWALA | Discharged along with Batterywala on the recommendation of the same Pota committee. The cops claimed they recovered two detonators from Ladoowala’s house

THE DAUGHTER FARHEEN SYED | Hanif and Fehmida’s daughter, Farheen, was 16 in 2003 and had accompanied her parents to the Gateway. She was initially arrested, but the police dropped all charges saying she was unaware of the conspiracy. She was released from juvenile remand in February 2004 and is married in Pune today

TWIN BLASTS | August 25, 2003
1.05 pm at Zaveri Bazar | 36 dead 1.08 pm

Gateway of India | 16 dead Total injured: 184 |

Explosives: Gelatin, RDX

Accused: 6 | 3 convicted, 1 turned approver, 2 discharged

Charges: Murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy (Indian Penal Code). Various sections of Prevention of Terrorism Act, Explosive Substances Act and Damage to Public Property Act

Other charges: Hanif and Fehmida are also accused of involvement in the Ghatkopar bus blast of July 28, 2003 and planting a bomb that was detonated at Seepz on December 6, 2003

Motive: Revenge for Gujarat riots

The plot: Hatched in Dubai in 2002. Nine absconding Pakistanis, allegedly LeT men, attended the meeting along with Nasir

The Times of India, July 28, 2009