South Asia Terrorism Portal

INDIA

FICN: Counterfeit Assault
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management

On October 1, 2021, Police arrested a 29-year-old man, identified as Bandu Khan, along with Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) worth 197,000, from the Ladnun area in the Nagaur District of Rajasthan. Station House Officer Rajendra Singh said that “the seized notes are of very high quality and cannot be easily distinguished from the real ones”.

Earlier, Police had arrested Rafique Khan from the Rambagh area of Jaipur, capital city of Rajasthan. Soon after his arrest, the Nagaur Police had received inputs that other members of his gang were still in possession of FICNs and were desperately looking for people to trade the notes with. Police suspected that Bandu Khan had FICNs worth nearly 300,000 with him and “some of the FICNs were distributed by the accused” before his arrest.

On September 29, 2021, Darrang Police arrested five persons from a remote village in Darrang District, Assam, and seized 50 FICNs in the denomination of INR 500 and a printing machine used for printing of FICN, from their possession. Two of the arrestees were identified as Nazrul Hussain and Hafizur of Lakhimpur District (Assam). The other three were Naga women identified as  Antoli Hayemi (31), Hukheli Sumi (31) and Jury (30).

On August 20, 2021, Delhi Police arrested two persons, identified as Mohammad Jakir, from Kardampuri in Delhi and Kamre Alam, from Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, and recovered FICNs worth INR 400,000. The seized notes were in the denominations of INR 100 and 200. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Yadav disclosed,

These incidents are not in isolation. According to the Crime in India-2020 report, published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), released on September 9, 2021, a total of 834,947 FICNs worth INR 921.7 million were seized by Security Forces (SFs) in 2020, as against 287,404 FICNs worth INR 253.9 million seized in 2019. A total of 257,243 FICNs worth INR 179.53 million was seized in 2018; 355,994 FICNs worth 281 million in 2017; and 281,839 FICNs worth 159.2 million were seized in 2016. Official data for 2021 is not yet available.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Annual Report 2020-21 released on May 27, 2021, disclosed that a total of 208,625 FICNs were detected by Banks between April 2020 and March 2021 as against 296,695 detected between April 2019 and March 2020, and 317,384 between April 2018 and March 2019. The report noted that "data do not include counterfeit notes (FICNs) seized by the police and other enforcement agencies." As per RBI, between April 2017 and March 2018, a total of 522,783 FICNs were detected. A total of 762,072 FICNs were detected between March 2016 and April 2017.

Addressing the Nation in the evening of November 8, 2016, while announcing his Government's demonetisation drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had observed,

Sadly, breaking the supply chain of FICNs from across the border, one of the objectives of demonetization, seems to have failed miserably. On the contrary, the menace has increased.  

Pakistan’s relentless involvement in the production and circulation of FICNs has long been established. Pakistan is believed to facilitate at least 28 important ‘FICN networks’, which operate out of Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangkok. Countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sri Lanka and Malaysia have also been used as transit points. Apart from nationals from these countries, Indian security agencies have arrested FICN couriers from Somalia and Hong Kong as well.

SAIR has also highlighted the direct involvement of Pakistani authorities in such acts. Further, according to an October 2019 report, Intelligence agencies gathered sufficient evidence against two key Pakistan Army officials posted in Kathmandu, Nepal and Dhaka, Bangladesh, of 'misusing diplomatic channels' in facilitating the smuggling of FICNs. The then Defence Attache of the Pakistan Embassy in Kathmandu, Colonel Shafqat Nawaz, who actually represented the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), played a key role in organising the smuggling of FICNs. His role came to light during the seizure of FICNs worth over INR 76.7 million from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu in May 2019. The Defence Advisor at the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka, Brigadier Kamran Nazir Malik, was also reportedly involved in patronising the smuggling of FICNs. Earlier, in January 2015, on a report by the Dhaka Police, Mohamed Mazhar Khan, an assistant visa officer at the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka was arrested and subsequently expelled from Bangladesh on charges of sheltering a major FICN syndicate.

According to a September 23, 2021, report, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered a case in a FICN smuggling racket, running out of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and controlled by Pakistan's  ISI. The report quoted an unnamed NIA officer as stating,

As per the NIA website, the Agency has been assigned to investigate at least 54 FICN related cases, as on September 24, 2021.

On this count, one of every 7.48 case investigated by NIA is related to FICN, with the total number of cases being investigated by the Agency at 404. Of these 54 FICN cases, judgment has been pronounced in four; of which direct Pakistani links have been confirmed in three. In the fourth case, a Bangladeshi link has been established.

Moreover, investigations by NIA and other agencies have established that FICNs have been used to fund terrorist/insurgent groups active in India. For instance, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative David Coleman Headley, in his disclosures to US authorities, confessed to having been given INR 250,000 in FICN in Pakistan by his handler for a trip to India to set up the plot for the November 26, 2008, Mumbai terrorist attacks (also known as 26/11), which eventually resulted in 166 fatalities. On March 31, 2021, the NIA Special Judge, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi, pronounced judgment in NIA Case No. RC11/2016/NIA/DLI (Conspiracy by Lashkar-e-Taiba) and convicted one accused, Bahadur Ali aka Saifullah Mansoor, a Pakistani terrorist belonging to LeT. Bahadur Ali was arrested at village Yahama Mukam in the Handwara area of Kupwara District, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), on July 25, 2016,  along with a large quantity of arms, ammunition and FICNs. According to the Crime in India-2020 report, in 2020, at least 2,628 FICNs worth 1.28 million were recovered in J&K, where the ISI has been engaged in a proxy war since 1989. In Punjab, where the ISI is attempting to restart Khalistani terrorism, a total of 14,444 FICNs worth 9.58 million were recovered in 2020.

Meanwhile, Minister of State in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed the Parliament on July 27, 2021, that the Government had taken various measures to check the smuggling into and circulation of FICNs in the country, which inter-alia, include:

Despite these measures, the FICN being pumped into the country remains a challenge and its volume is, indeed, growing. Unless an effective deterrent is imposed on the sources in Pakistan, it is unlikely that India will succeed in neutralizing this problem.

INDIA

Telangana: Maoists Disquiet
Deepak Kumar Nayak
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On September 23, 2021, at least 14 jan militia (people's militia) members of the Cherla [Bhadradri Kothagudem] ‘area committee’ of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) surrendered before the Security Forces (SFs) in the Bhadradri Kothagudem District. According to the Police, the 14 jan militia members, who were forced to join the outfit, decided to quit they were unable to bear the harassment by leaders, who forced them do things against their will. Recently, they were forced to attend a training programme in the Pesarlapadu, Puttapadu and Chanda areas in Chhattisgarh.

On September 17, 2021, CPI-Maoist leader Jajjeri Samakka aka Sharada aka Sharadakka surrendered before the Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) Mudireddy Mahendar Reddy in Hyderabad District. Sharadakka, a native of Gangaram in Mahabubnagar District, had been working as a ‘divisional committee’ (DVC) member of the Bhadradri Kothagudem-East Godavari ‘Divisional Committee’. She had reportedly been suffering from health issues for some time. She is the wife of Maoist leader Yapa Narayana aka Haribhushan aka Lakma (59), CPI-Maoist ‘central committee’ (CC) member and Telangana ‘state committee secretary’, who succumbed to COVID-19 on June 21, 2021.

On September 9, 2021, 52 persons working as jan militia members, village committee members, and CPI-Maoist sympathisers, surrendered before the Police in Bhadradri Kothagudem District. They included five women and some minors. Bhadradri Kothagudem District Superintendent of Police (SP), Sunil Dutt disclosed, "Recently, these people were forcibly taken by the CPI Maoist party to attend their trainings in Chhattisgarh." They left the outfit due to regular harassment. The Telangana Police claimed that several senior Maoist leaders of the State had contracted COVID-19, including Kunkati Venkataiah aka Vikas, South Bastar ‘DVC’ ‘secretary’; Sharada aka Sharadakka, ‘DVC’ member; Sonu, ‘Company-2’ ‘commander’; Vinod Hemla aka Hunga aka Vinodanna and Moola Devender Reddy aka Masa Dada, both Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) members; Kankanala Raji Reddy aka Dharmanna aka Venkatesh, Telangana ‘state committee’ (SC) member; and Bade Chokka Rao aka Damodar, Telangana ‘SC’ member, among others,. 

On June 28, 2021, DGP Reddy urged the Maoists to lay down arms and join the mainstream in order to avail medical treatment. He noted, “Many extremists, including top leaders, were struggling to handle COVID-19 and some of them have succumbed to the virus.” Reddy assured the Maoists that the Police Department would extend all help to the CPI-Maoist cadres who quit the outfit, and that rehabilitation packages would be provided to them once they surrender.

According to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 82 Maoists and people working for them have surrendered since the appeal made by the DGP on June 28, 2021. Prominent among these are:

August 27, 2021: ‘Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee’ (AOBSZC) member, Ekkanti Seetharam Reddy aka Naganna (65), surrendered before Police Commissioner, Vishnu S. Warrier, in Khammam District.

July 14, 2021: A ‘Platoon Party Committee’ (PPC) member of the CPI-Maoist, identified as Ravula Ranjit aka Srikanth (23), son of deceased Ravula Srinivasa aka Ramanna aka Katta Ramachandra Reddy aka Rajudada, a ‘CC’ member and ‘DKSZC’ ‘secretary’, surrendered before the Police in Hyderabad District.

The total number of surrenders in the current year stands at 109 (all data till October 3, 2021). Since the formation of Telangana, on June 2, 2014, at least 238 Maoists and people working for them have surrendered.

Most of the surrenderers have alleged harassment by the leadership as the main reason. Reports indicate that the Maoists are perturbed by the rising number of surrenders. According to an August 8, 2021, report, the Maoist leadership is trying to capture or eliminate a female Maoist cadre, identified as Madakam Chukki, of Battigudem village in Cherla Mandal (administrative sub-division), who worked in the Cherla Local Organisation Squad (LOS), and left the CPI-Maoist party due to alleged harassment and torture by the leaders. The Maoist leadership feared that several other cadres in the party might follow in her footsteps and is consequently trying to capture or eliminate her.

Meanwhile, the number of arrests has increased from 20 in 2020 to 51 in the current year. A total of 368 arrests have been recorded in the State since June 2, 2014.

One Maoist has also been killed in the State in the current year. A total of 31 Maoists have been killed since June 2, 2014. On August 1, 2021, a CPI-Maoist cadre, identified as Madvi Ungal aka Chotu (23), was killed in an exchange of fire between the Maoists and Police at Bodanelli forest area in Cherla Mandal. Chotu, a native of Puvarthi village in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh, is said to be the brother of Madvi Hidma aka Hidmaanna, ‘commander’ of the ‘1^st Battalion’ of the CPI-Maoist’s People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) operating in the Dandakaranya region of Bastar in Chhattisgarh.

On the other hand, the Maoists have failed to carry out any fatal attack since October 25, 2020, when CPI-Maoist cadres killed a villager, suspecting him to be a ‘police informer’, at Gorukonda village in Cherla Mandal.

Combing operations have led to the recovery of arms on 16 occasions in the current year, in addition to another 21 occasions of arms recovery in 2020. The total number of such recoveries since June 2, 2014, stood at 99, including the recoveries in 2021.

Not surprisingly, on July 14, 2021, DGP Reddy claimed that there was no Maoist activity in Telangana. He added that a decision had also been taken to intensify operations on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border to thwart any future threat. 

Meanwhile, the Maoists are not willing to give up the fight. An August 3, 2021, report, revealed that the SFs had received a tip-off that the extremists were gearing up to unleash violence in the State to avenge the killing of their comrade in the August 1, 2021, encounter.

Indeed, on September 6, 2021, a youth, identified as Brahma Naidu, was critically injured when a pressure bomb allegedly planted by CPI-Maoist cadres went off at Lenin Nagar on the outskirts of Cherla Mandal. Naidu suffered the injury when he stepped on the pressure bomb after stopping his motorcycle near a tree on the roadside to read a wall poster put up by the Maoists. The handwritten poster, bearing the name of CPI-Maoist Cherla-Sabari ‘area committee’, read: “Release all the political prisoners unconditionally, punish those responsible for the death of tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, and repeal the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).” The Maoists also urged people to observe ‘Political Prisoners Rights Day’ on September 13. Father Stan Swamy, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, died on July 5, 2021, at Holy Family Hospital in suburban Bandra in Mumbai city of Maharashtra.

Sustained and focused SF action in the Maoist affected areas, particularly in the contiguous border regions that Telangana shares with other Left-Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected States, is required to prevent any possibilities of future resurgence.

AFGHANISTAN

Former Afghan officials announce Government in exile: A statement released by the Afghan embassy in Switzerland announced the continuation of the Afghan Government in exile. The statement reads that the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is the only legitimate Government of Afghanistan that is elected by the votes of people and no other Government can replace a legitimate one. The Khaama Press, September 29, 2021.

More than 220 female Afghan judges are in hiding due to fear of retribution under Taliban rule: More than 220 female Afghan judges are in hiding due to fear of retribution under Taliban rule. One female judge who spoke under the condition of anonymity told BBC that after the Taliban took control of her city and thousands of convicted criminals were released from prison, the death BBC News, September 29, 2021.

An exclusive battalion of suicide bombers will be deployed to the borders of Afghanistan, says Deputy Governor of Badakhshan Province Mullah Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi: Deputy Governor of Badakhshan Province Mullah Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi said that they have created an exclusive battalion of suicide bombers that will be deployed to the borders of Afghanistan particularly in Badakhshan province. Badakhshan Province borders Tajikistan and China. The Khaama Press, October 4, 2021.

MoJ to enforce Zahir Shah-Era Constitution, says Ministry of Justice: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on September 28 said that the constitution from King Zahir Shah's era will be enforced in the country for an interim period. Acting Justice Minister Abdul Hakim Sharie made the remarks in his meeting with the Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu. Tolo News, September 29, 2021.

The world should give us 20 months and then judge, says Acting Minister of Economy Qari Din Mohammad Haneef: Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA)Acting Minister of Economy Qari Din Mohammad Haneef addressing to the international community said, that the world should give us 20 months and then judge. We don't want help and cooperation from the world as the previous government, he added. Bakhtar News, October 1, 2021.

UNSC has decided to extend the waiver on travel ban imposed on several top Taliban officials: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has decided to extend the waiver on travel ban imposed on several top Taliban officials. The exemption on the travel ban is solely to allow travel required to participate in the peace and reconciliation process, the UNSC announced. Wion News, September 29, 2021.

BANGLADESH

HeI Amir Shah Muhibullah Babungari criticises and protests harassment of its leaders in various ways: Hefajat-e Islam (HeI) Amir (Chief) Shah Muhibullah Babungari, on September 29, criticised and protested harassment of its leaders in various ways. In a statement, he said "I request the government not to arrest any scholar or an honourable citizen in a manner that creates fear and panic among the public. The accused, whoever he is, should be taken into police custody and tried according to the law. The Daily Star, September 30, 2021.