KOLKATA: After Golapgunj police outpost in Malda, the road towards the border bifurcates, one through Mohabbatpur and the other Chorianantapur. This 12 sq-km triangle with 18 villages, 40km from Malda town, have turned into the entry point of 40% fake Indian notes being pumped into the country through the porous border.
Malda, particularly the three Kaliachak blocks, have always been known as the smuggling point for fake currencies, but the situation has taken a turn for the worse in the past five years. According to a recent NIA report, 80% fake currencies are sneaked into the country through the 172-km porous border along Malda district, and 55-60% of the consignments from Bangladesh are circulated from the villages in 12 sq-km triangle.
The fake currency rackets has taken the magnitude of a cottage industry at Mohabbatpur, Chorianantapur, Sasani, Gopalnagar, Khoribona, Chaknanipur, Misutola and Dangipara, which are easily accessible to Bangladesh’s Chapai Nababgunj, notorious for being a fake currency hub, as well as Nepal, said Malda SP Prasiun Banerjee. “Also, people here work as labourers in Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi and Assam and they carry the notes with them there,” he added.
Most of the residents in the villages, including women and kids, are part of the illegal trade, which according to a recent Financial Intelligence Unit report, is crippling the economy of the country. In Mohabbatpur, there is not a single ho8me that has not been raided. In fact, hardly any youngster can be found there as most of them have been arrested and the others have gone underground, trying to evade jail.
Abject poverty and the greed for easy money makes these villagers an easy target for the daris, a code word for linkmen. Working on farm land and binding bidi are the two main sources of income in the villages. While the male members work in the field, the female members make bidis to give financial support to the family.
