1.21cr 'forged' Indian rupees seized

Customs officials could not believe their eyes when they were handling merely a packet of blanket.

As they started making inventory of luggage at the Lost and Found section of the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for an auction, they found millions of Indian rupees in the packet that remained unclaimed for around four months.

"A bundle of Indian rupees suddenly slipped out of the packet as we were receiving the blanket with other goods," Assistant Commissioner Shahiduzzaman Sarkar told The Daily Star yesterday.

"We were surprised and started looking for what was inside," he added.

The customs officials opened the packets in presence of other agencies working at the airport and found the Indian rupees, he said, adding, the recovery led them to search other goods as well.

After searching all the goods, the officials found Rs 1.21 crore in total from two blankets, a carton and a leather bag.

With the latest seizure, the customs seized 10 crore of foreign currency, including 5 crore Indian rupees, at the airport in last three months.

Shahiduzzaman said they learned that the currencies inside the blankets were smuggled into the country from Pakistan via Dubai on a flight of Fly Dubai in mid-August this year.

The carriers might have left the currencies abandoned due to strict vigilance at that time, he observed.

Another customs official told The Daily Star that they took some rupees to several banks, which have identified those as original as all security indications are available on the notes.

However, a number of experts who deal with Indian currencies claim those are fake, said the official asking not to be named.

According to customs officials, like the previous instances, destination of the smuggled rupees is India.

Smuggling of fake currency into India through different bordering areas is a major concern for that country. In a recent meeting with the Bangladesh counterparts, the Indian law-enforcement agencies requested them to take necessary action to prevent such smuggling.