Ansari held for running fake currency racket

KATHMANDU, JAN 26 -

Yunus Ansari, the son of former minister Salim Miya Ansari, has been arrested for the second time along with three others on the charge of running fake Indian currency racket.

A special team from Nepal Police also recovered counterfeit Indian currency worth IRs 3.5 million of IRs 1,000 denomination from Yunus’ Lalitpur residence on Saturday.

 The other three arrested in the case were identified as Pakistani national Muashud Alam and Yunus’ close aides, Dinesh Ale and Soyal Khan. The trio was apprehended from a Thamel-based Potala Hotel in Kathmandu.

Acting on a tip, the police had been following Alam, who had arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday on Pakistani International Airlines. The police team busted Alam, Ale and Khan as they were in the middle of a deal.

In his statement to the police, Khan admitted Yunus had sent him to Alam’s hotel to collect the money.

Sources said the group was trying to smuggle the fake currency to India.

Senior Super-intendent of Police Ganesh KC, the spokesperson of Nepal Police, said Yunus’ involvement in the case is yet to be established.  

Yunus has already served time jail term after he was convicted of operating the racket of counterfeit Indian currency.

On 2 January 2010, Yunus was arrested with his bodyguard and two Pakistani aides in possession of a large amount of fake Indian currency and brown heroin. The police had then raided Yunus’ hideout, where they recovered a fake Indian money worth IRs 2.54 million.

Yunus had survived a murder attempt made against him while he was serving time in Sundhara-based Central Jail on 10 March 2011.

An Indian man had shot at Yunus on 10 March 2011. The shoother, an Indian man identified as Jasjeet Singh aka Bijaya was later linked with the same group of gangsters that had killed media entrepreneur Jamim Shah. Yunus was released on 4 October 2013.

 Police investigations show that Yunus had been involved in fake currency smuggling for 10 years. Sources said he was actively involved in the business, even while he was in prison.

Yunus, who was also the chairman of National Television, had also used a female employee to smuggle fake Indian currency.

“Even the parcels that came in on his name contained fake Indian notes,” said a police source.

On 22 September 2010, one Chakot Mahato was arrested from the Tribhuvan International Airport with IRS 4.90 million. Central Investigation Bureau had later discovered the involvement of Yunus in the incident.

Police say there’s an intricate network involved in smuggling fake Indian currency that are printed in Pakistan. Kathmandu is said to be one of the many transits used by the smugglers to transfer the money to India.

Source: The Kathmandu Post