Kolkata, May 17 Border Security Force (BSF) has arrested a Bangladeshi couple from the Land Customs Station (LCS) in Gede in the Nadia in West Bengal after finding at least (78) Rs 2,000 currency notes in their luggage.
The couple, identified as Zahurul Islam and Kanji Fatema, from Narayanpur village in the Rajbari district of Bangladesh, were travelling to India with valid documents but Rs 2,000 currency notes are no longer in circulation in India.
“They were taken into custody after they failed to come up with a satisfactory explanation about how they got these notes. BSF troops of the 32 Bn were searching the luggage of all people who had crossed over from Bangladesh when they detected the money,” said A K Arya, DIG and Spokesperson, BSF, South Bengal Frontier.
Zahurul claimed that the couple had visited India last in 2018 for Kanji’s treatment.
He had collected 2,00,000 Bangladeshi Taka for her treatment thereafter and got it exchanged into Indian currency. He had received Rs 1.56 lakh in Rs 2,000 currency notes from the money changer. The man claimed that he wasn’t aware that Rs 2,000 currency notes are no longer in circulation in India. The authorities do not believe this though.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced recently that 97.69 per cent of the Rs 2,000 currency notes have returned to the system while Rs 8,202 crore worth of such notes are still unaccounted for. Authorities suspect that a large number of such notes are in other countries.
While Rs 2,000 currency notes are no longer in circulation, they can still be exchanged from 19 RBI offices across the country, including one in Kolkata. It is suspected that Zahurul was bringing the cash into India with a plan to exchange it for a tender that is in circulation.
A K Arya said that 1,000 to 1,200 people travel through LCS Gede every day and their luggage is thoroughly checked by the BSF personnel on duty. Several illegal items are seized during the search.
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