Currency counterfeiting gangs are active again ahead of Eid-ul-Azha as it is relatively easier for them to circulate fake currency notes in cattle markets. Law enforcers said about 12 such gangs having around 100 members are busy mainly in Dhaka and some other cities making fake notes to cheat cattle traders and shoppers. City corporations have already taken initiatives to increase precautions including the installation of fake currency note detection machines at cattle markets.
Law enforcers claimed that students, drug dealers, hospital brokers, smugglers, garment traders, and various others are involved in this illegal activity because of job loss. In a drive-in Dhaka’s Badda on July 12, detectives arrested five members of a gang including a garment trader along with counterfeit notes worth Tk 43 lakh and note-making equipment. In another drive on May 2, DB arrested three persons, including a polytechnic student, in connection with note forgery from Kamrangichar. Some unscrupulous traders try to make fake currency notes targeting the Eid.
Leaders and members of almost all the gangs were arrested with fake notes and equipment also in the past as law enforcers busted their centres, but they again started the illegal trade after getting out of jails on bail. The band sets a system in which one group supplies special paper and prepares those with colour, watermarks, and security thread while another group prints the counterfeit notes and the third group circulates them.
The government should make the masses aware to increase their understanding to distinguish between genuine currency notes and fake notes. Prevention of the forgery should be ensured by striking at the roots. The saboteurs of the national economy must be given exemplary punishment. The law enforcers need to apprehend the manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of fake notes to stamp out the counterfeiting business. To limit the circulation of counterfeit notes, law enforcers should maintain vigil all year-round instead of only on the eve of Eid.
