Kashmir’s fake currency racket gets a body blow

Fake currency rackets operating out of Kashmir valley have been badly hit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to demonetise notes worth Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. Most fake notes in circulation are in the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 and as these have been demonetised, intelligence officers say that their supply has dried up. The agencies and the state police are now keeping a close eye on cash flow and hawala trade to ensure that the fake money is not dumped into bank accounts to be exchanged for genuine currency.

A senior officer of the Jammu and Kashmir police said that hawala traders are trying to deposit their dirty cash in genuine accounts by convincing their relatives and friends so that they can withdraw that money later. However, considering the large volumes of fake currency, it is difficult to deposit all of them in genuine accounts and recover the loss made. So such fake currencies are likely to be buried or burnt.

The Director General of J&K Police, K. Rajendra told the media that they were keeping a close watch on cash focused markets and traders in bullion, hawala, precious stones, real estate, forex, etc. He said that he had directed all his superintendents of police to get information from the respective markets so that such rings could be busted.

Apart from the J&K police, Central intelligence agencies and the Income-Tax Department are working to identify the hawala channels and will start securing the accounts after end of December.

In the past 26 years of the armed insurgency, the Central and state intelligence agencies have busted dozens of hawala rings that were financing separatism. When the current unrest started, the Central government accused Pakistan of fuelling the violence through hawala trade.

Meanwhile, the J&K government has also stepped in to lessen the impact of the demonetisation on the common man. State Chief Secretary B.R. Sharma has instructed all the deputy commissioners of the state to help the different bank branches including providing them with security to cope with the rush.