The ‘Shahjehan’ of Fake Currency Syndicate Arrested

A team of Special Cell led by Inspectors Sanjay Dutt, Rahul Kumar Singh and Dharmender Kumar has arrested one Shahjahan Sheikh @ Tunnu, aged 35 yrs, s/o Tajjuddin Biswas, r/o Chota Mohadipur, PO Devipur Anchitola, PS Kaliachak, District Malda, West Bengal who was wanted in many cases of smuggling high quality Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) from Bangladesh into India and had become the most wanted Indian kingpin in this organized criminal activity being orchestrated by hostile agencies of a neighbouring country with a view to destabilise Indian economy. Accused Shahjahan was running a wide ranging network of FICN peddlers and the footprints of his trade were spread as far as Gujarat and Maharashtra where he has been found involved in cases of FICN circulation. He has been arrested after a long running operation carried out in remote Kaliachak village of Malda, West Bengal which is a stone’s throw from the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Accused Shahjahan belongs to Malda, WB. His long periods of illegal activities got him many friends and contacts which were later to become the conduits in his trade of FICN peddling. He took to the business of FICN peddling, which was being practiced in his native village like a cottage industry. One Mehdur Sheikh @ Bittoo, an old friend and resident of his village, who was already involved in circulation of FICN taught him the tricks of the trade and soon, with his well spread network of friends and associates, Shahjahan became a prominent player of this fledging illegal activity.

Initially, Shahjahan did not have major suppliers at his call but soon, he got linked up with one Hollan and his brother Mohd. Falen (arrested by the Special Cell in 2014), both residents of Village Kinarganj, District ChapaiNabobganj, Bangladesh who were key suppliers of fine quality ISI printed FICNs inthe border town of Malda in West Bengal. Later, Shahjahan also started receiving FICNs from one Maidul and Janarul, major Bangladesh based suppliers of FICN. Shahjahan got direct access to the entrenched contraband markets of KaisarHaat, District ChapaiNabobganj, near Rajashahi area of Bangladesh where ISI agents have set up a clandestine market where FICN can be obtained in huge quantity by paying for it in original Bangladeshi currency i.e. Taka.After procuring FICNs as per demand from Kaiser Haat, Shahjahan used an extensive network of cross-border smugglers to get the same transported to his native village from where, it again used to pass through chains of conduits before reaching the intended buyers spread over Delhi NCR, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and other Indian territories.

This high quality FICN was being obtained by him at about 25% of its face value in Bangladesh and was being sold to down the chain retailers at about 40-45% of the face value. Shahjahan and his syndicate members were thus earning approximately Rs. 20/- per sale of a FICN worth Rs. 100/-. The retailers who were ordering bulk supplies from Shahjahan were pushing this FICN in the actual market at about 65% of its face value for consumption and assimilation in the Indian economy.

Accused Shahjahan was wanted for long and proceedings of proclamation u/s. 83 Cr PC had been initiated against him by the Special Cell as his name had figured as the principal supplier in (1) Case FIR No. 27/2013, u/ss. 489-B/489-C/120-BIPC, PS Special Cell, and (2) Case FIR No. 32/2013, u/ss. 489-B/489-C/120-BIPC, PS Special Cell, New Delhi. Besides the above mentioned cases, as per the details collected from the native Police Station of accused Shahjahan, he is also running wanted in two other cases of circulating FICN in Gujarat and Maharashtra. It was Shahjahan’s mastery of his trade that he kept on evading the law in spite of being searched for by many a State Police forces. He used different aliases in dealing with different retail chains and never used to meet any unknown client directly. Also, with his extensive network amongst the cross border smugglers, it was a childs’ play for him to keep shuttling between India and Bangladesh to avoid being detected by stationing himself at any particular location for long. It is suspected that with the arrest of Shahjahan, the original kingpin of the following recoveries of FICN made by the Special Cell from Kaliachak based, down the chain peddlers, will get better understood:

Sl.No.	FIR No.	U/SS.	Arrest	FICNs Recovered	Police Station
1	19/12	489B&C/120B IPC	3	6,27,000/-	Special Cell
2.	27/13	489B&C/120B IPC	7	16,00,000/-	Special Cell
3.	28/13	489B&C/120B IPC	3	5,00,000/-	Special Cell
4.	31/13	489B&C/120B IPC	4	5,00,000/-	Special Cell
5.	32/13	489B&C/120B IPC	3	6,50,000/-	Special Cell
6.	02/14	489B&C/120B IPC	6	5,00,000/-	Special Cell
7.	11/14	489B&C/120B IPC	6	4,00,000/-	Special Cell
8.	19/14	489B&C/120B IPC	3	4,00,000/-	Special Cell
9.	36/14	489B&C/120B IPC	2	4,00,000/-	Special Cell
10.	43/14	489B&C/120B IPC	2	7,00,000/-	Special Cell
11.	15/15	489B&C/120B IPC	2	20,00,000/-	Special Cell
Total FICNs recovered				Worth Rs.82,77,000/-

A lot better understanding of the nature of FICN operations being carried out at the behest of ISI of Pakistan is expected with the detailed interrogation of accused Shahjahan. This arrest is also likely to lead to the identification of other important FICN modules operating along the porous Indo-Bangladesh borders.