Two persons including a Bangladeshi national were arrested from Samsherganj in Murshidabad in the wee hours on Sunday when they were trying to smuggle in fake Indian currencies by crossing a river.
The police have recovered fake Indian currency worth Rs 5 lakh and all the notes were of Rs 2,000 denomination.
Police arrested Babu Sheikh, who is a resident of Shibganj at Chapai Nawabganj district in Bangladesh, and his Indian counterpart Salim Sheikh who is a resident of Baishnabgarh in Malda.
Acting on a tip-off, policemen from Samsherganj police station went to Dhulian ferry ghat. After waiting for around an hour, the police found the duo crossing the river in a fishing boat. They were caught as soon as they crossed the river.
The police suspect that Babu might be involved in an international fake currency racket. They will be interrogating both the accused to know about their associates who are operating to circulate fake currency in India.
The police feel that Babu is also involved in terror activities. The reason being that the circulation of fake currency is a task which members of terror outfits take up to earn money.
The police are trying to know whether Babu is in any way linked with terror outfits like Jamat-Ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
The arrest of the Bangladeshi national with fake currency has once again strengthened the suspicion that Rs 2,000 fake currencies are now being printed in the neighbouring country.
A senior police officer said that preliminary investigation revealed that fake Indian currencies (the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes) usually used to get printed in Pakistan before demonetisation was announced but it seems now that counterfeit currencies are also getting printed in Bangladesh, though the quality of paper is not that good.