Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 1: Police today sent arrested Junior Engineer and contractor to Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) for sustained questioning following reports that they could be involved in hawala transactions after the recovery of Rs 65,000 worth fake currency from their possession.
Junior Engineer Sharief-ud-Din and contractor Lal Din, both residents of Kupwara, were today sent to the JIC for questioning to ascertain source of fake currency and other aspects linked to the recovery of cash. Executive Engineer, Manu Karwal was not sent to the JIC as it was established during questioning of the trio that the JE and the contractor had obtained fake currency and handed it over to the Executive Engineer along with some genuine notes as a part of commission for construction works.
“Sharief-ud-Din and Lal Din were today sent to the JIC where they would be quizzed for next three days as police had taken them on six days remand. Police might ask for extension in remand of the duo if they were required to be quizzed further in connection with the fake currency scam”, police sources said.
Police decided against sending the Executive Engineer to the JIC as the JE and the contractor had admitted during questioning that they had made payment to X-En as part of the commission.
Meanwhile, sources said, a new trend has been observed in recovery of fake currency across the State as this was for the first time that very superior quality notes in 1000 denomination were seized. Earlier, in most of the seizure, the notes were in denomination of 500.
“Though 1000 denomination fake currency notes had been seized earlier also, their quality had been very inferior and they could be easily identified as fake notes. This time, however, even the Bank officials were surprised to see the superior quality of fake notes in 1000 denomination”, sources said, adding there were clear indications that the fake currency had flown from across the border (Pakistan).
There were reports that superior quality currency in the denomination of 1000 might have been printed in Pakistan and supplied to this side through militants and Over Ground Workers (OGWs) for funding militancy and other anti-national activities.
Police at this stage was not ruling out the links of either the Junior Engineer or the contractor with the anti-national elements. However, they said, the things would be clear only after sustained interrogation of the duo in the JIC.
Meanwhile, police teams here were in touch with their counterparts in Kupwara to gather more clues about the fake currency racket. It may be mentioned here that the JE and the contractor hailed from Kupwara. The Executive Engineer and the JE were also posted in the border district of Kupwara.
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