Tamil Nadu (Islamist/Other Conflicts): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2012

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed to have busted a major Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) racket and arrested 14 persons - including leaders of the gang operating out of Malda in West Bengal - during a nationwide swoop, reports Times of India. The accused were found to have direct links with their coordinators in Pakistan where these notes were printed. Four persons including the Indian kingpin Morgen Hussain were arrested from Malda while four others were arrested in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), three in Tamil Nadu and one each in Gulbarga (Karnataka), Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh) and Delhi. "Arrests show that the gang - part of an international network - had virtually a pan-India presence. Raids are still continuing in nine States including Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana and West Bengal," said an unnamed official. He added that the seizures and subsequent probe supported India's claim about Inter Services Intelligence’s (ISI) role in its grand design to "destabilize the monetary stability of India" through pumping in huge numbers of FICNs. "Such a high quality of FICNs cannot be printed without government-linked agency's role or support. Though NIA had mentioned this in its earlier charge sheet in similar cases of Mumbai, the current seizures and disclosures made by the conduits have substantiated the charges," the official said. Referring to interrogation of the accused and technical surveillance, the NIA claims that the gang used to get its consignment of high quality FICNs - printed in Pakistan - through its network in Bangladesh and Nepal. It was found during the probe that the FICN -- in denominations of INR 1000, INR 500 and INR 100 - were smuggled to Bangladesh via air route before finally reaching its destination in different north-eastern and West Bengal villages. Besides using usual smuggling network, suppliers of these FICNs in Bangladesh also used to throw the bundles of FICN into the Indian villages bordering Bangladesh. "The accused persons with their aides used to collect the said FICN and distribute the same to the agents spread all over the country," the agency said. "The gang members used to transport the FICNs through trains and other modes of transport to all the states for its circulation. The local agents used to collect 60% of the value of FICNs from the circulators in genuine notes," it added. As per the deal, the genuine currency was then remitted to the bank accounts of the key persons by depositing amounts to the maximum of INR 49,000 to avoid being detected as suspicious transactions. "The network used bank accounts and ATMs for transferring back the genuine currency earned out of circulating the high quality, high value fake currency to the suppliers of the same based in Malda. The raids, which had begun on January 6, have led to the recovery of large number of ATM cards, bank passbooks, SIM cards and FICNs," the NIA said. The agency, which got help from different State Police during the raids, has, meanwhile, alerted the Border Security Force (BSF) to tighten its vigil along the Indo-Bangladesh border in the entire north-eastern region. Read less...

The Star reports that a Malaysian businessman is under remand in Chennai after Police found Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) worth thousands of rupees in his possession. The 45-year-old catering business operator based in Sungai Petani, Kedah, was arrested on December 6, 2011 from Mangalamedu Circle in Perambalur District while on tour in Tamil Nadu. Police claimed he had 24 pieces of FICN of INR 500 denomination. Read less...

A suspected sympathizer of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was arrested by Kochi city Police from Chengalpettu in Chennai in connection with a human trafficking case involving Sri Lankan Tamils, reports Times of India. "We brought the accused from Chennai on Sunday [January 15] and presented him before the local magistrate, who remanded him in judicial custody," Police officials said. The case pertains to the incident in which an international human trafficking racket attempted to illegally transport 39 Sri Lankan Tamils to Australia from Kerala on a fishing boat. Read less...

PTI reports that Police are conducting a probe after Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) were found in some of the currencies sent to the Reserve Bank of India, Chennai, by some banks Tirunelveli. The investigation was launched after Loganathan, Assistant General Manager, RBI, on January 26 filed a complaint with the Tirunelveli City Police Commissioner over the issue. Read less...