Pakistani caught with fake Indian currency in Nepal

KATHMANDU - Police have arrested yet another Pakistani courier smuggling fake Indian currency into Nepal using Bangladesh as a transit route to evade suspicion.

Mohammad Jamil, in his 40s, was caught at the Tribhuvan International Airport after a random check unearthed fake Indian currency worth over Rs.1.9 million in his suitcase, police said.

Jamil, a resident of Rawalpindi, had flown to Dhaka from where he boarded a Biman Bangladesh flight to Kathmandu Tuesday.

“When there are direct flights between Pakistan and Nepal, the fact that he chose to detour made him suspect in our eyes,” Inspector Sanjay Rimal told IANS. “He was carrying the money in fake 500 and 100 Indian rupee notes.”

However, the Pakistani was not offering any information to his interrogators.

“After arriving in Kathmandu, he was to have received a call,” Rimal said. “The caller would have informed him where to deliver the money. However, he managed to convey to the caller that something was up and we could not nab the accomplice.”

Police records show that Jamil has been a frequent visitor to Nepal.

In March, police arrested a Pakistani woman, Mariam Wali Mohammad, who had flown from Karachi with a consignment of Rs.3 million in fake Indian currency notes.

The growing fake currency network routed through Nepal has been a mounting concern for the Indian authorities.

This year, one of the major kingpins, Yunus Ansari, the son of a powerful Nepali politician and former minister, was arrested after police caught his bodyguard taking delivery of a consignment.

However, despite the major arrest, the syndicate continues to thrive through a network of small operators who are helped by the open border between India and Nepal, the political turmoil in Nepal and rampant corruption.