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Pak staffer in Nepal in fake Indian currency racket |
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Nepal has given a clerk in the Pakistan Embassy in Kathmandu 72 hours to leave the country after he was found to be responsible for the circulation of counterfeit Indian currency in Nepal with an ultimate destination to India. He was caught red handed after he was trying to sell the Indian currency in the denomination of Rs 500 to an undercover agent who had been planted by the Nepalese Police after coming to know that the Pakistan staffer was engaged in the exchange of fake Indian currency with the Nepalese rupees. Government of India has taken up the matter with the Nepalese Government fearing that it was pumped into India by the ISI to fund terrorist activities in Kashmir.
The Pak staffer, Asim Saboor, working as a clerk in the Pakistani Embassy was caught by the police with fake Indian banknotes worth Rs. 50,000 in Rs. 500 denomination. The Pakistan ambassador intervened to say that he enjoyed diplomatic immunity, but since he was merely a clerk the contention was not accepted and he was sent to jail. However, the idea to file a charge-sheet was dropped after the personal intervention of the Pakistan ambassador, Fawzia Nasreen at the highest level. Saboor, who was working in the visa section of the Pakistan mission in Kathmandu, was declared persona non grata and issued quit orders on Jan. 5.
The Nepalese Police came to know about Saboor’s activities after two persons were arrested with a 15 kg contraband and a fake Rs 500 note. A woman police inspector was sent in as an undercover agent to establish contact with Mr. saboor. She offered to buy Rs. 50,000 of the fake Indian currency in return for an equivalent amount in Nepalese rupees which is of much lower value. The agent was then instructed by Mr.Saboor to meet him at a particular location in Kathmandu. As per plans, she asked for additional amount of fake currency and was told by Mr. Saboor that he was able to supply Rs 20 million. The two of them then visited Mr. saboor’s residence. When the undercover agent confronted Mr.Saboor brandishing a revolver, he asked Saboor to surrender. He locked himself up in his house and police saw smoke coming out of the apartment amid suspicions that he was burning the Indian currency notes.
Sources say, the same Pakistani official was involved in the conspiracy to smuggle around 20 kg of RDX into India through a Sikh militant, Lakhbir Singh, in November, 1998. In addition, Mr. Arshad Cheema, First secretary in the Pakistan embassy there was seen at the Kathmandu airport on the day of the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane.Mr. Cheema allegedly entered the departure area with a bag which was not checked because of his diplomatic immunity and allegedly handed it over to the hijackers.
Coming close on the heels of the hijacking of the Indian plane which heightened New Delhi’s concerns about the effectiveness of the security apparatus at the Tribhuvan international airport in Kathmandu, the Saboor incident has once again confirmed charges that the ISI remained unchecked in Nepal despite Bhattarai Government’s assertions to the contrary.
High placed Government sources in New Delhi say, Indian Government has taken up the matter of ISI’s involvement in printing and pushing into Indian fake currency to fund terrorist activities, with the nepalese Government. The issue will be taken up at the high powered Joint Working Group [JWG] of India and Nepal at its meeting scheduled to be held by the end of this month.
The Indian Government is learnt to have told Nepal that the activities of the ISI if left unchecked, threatened “not only to damage the economies of India and Nepal but also that the “subversive activities of the ISI would prove detrimental to the security of India and Nepal. JWG would also discuss the sensitive option of introducing the Visa System or any other method to check travelers visiting between the two countries. The Indian government does not want visa restrictions and has asked Nepal to check ISI activities more effectively. But, the choice is with the Nepalese Government - to check ISI activities or to have a visa system introduced which would affect tourism in Nepal.
The Government of India has already given information about various activities of ISI and other smuggling rackets being used against India which is also being patronized by political big wigs of Nepal. The Government has also not ruled out the Dawood Ibrahim gang connection in the racket of both smuggling of drugs, narcotics and of the fake currency notes. After the death of Mirza Dilshad Be, former MP, the Dawood Ibrahim gang has already established connection with around two to three important political and business personalities in Nepal. All these people have been involved in smuggling including ISI activities”, sources said.
Sources say that the Nepal Government has been asked to check the activities of one Zameer Sah, Tariq Sah and Nadim Sah, who are believed to be Dawood Ibrahim’s front men in Nepal. Zameer Sah owns a Space Time network and has sought permission to have called TV network in Nepal and along the Indo-Nepal border also. It has also been pointed out about the involvement of one Zafar Abbas Shah, another official in the Pakistan embassy whose involvement in the RDX seizure was established by the Nepal police alone.
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