M A I N   N E W S

Security tightened at Attari station
Hoardings warn against fake money
From Varinder Walia and Ashok Sethi

ATTARI (Amritsar), Feb 7 — The seizure of fake currency notes in India has led to pressing of panic buttons, resulting in the beefing up of security at the Attari railway station.

Despite this Fake Indian currency notes valued at Rs 34,200 were seized from three passengers, including a Pakistani national, who alighted from the Samjautha Express at Attari railway station today.

Customs assistance commissioner (preventive) Amrish Jain said here that Rs 33,000 in fake currency was impounded from the baggage of an Indian national, Hanif, who had come from Lahore on board the train.

He was identified as a native of Meerut. “Further whereabouts of the persons is being established by the immigration officials,” Mr Jain said.

Another set of fake notes worth Rs 800 were recovered from a resident of Gujarat Rs 400 from Iqbal Mashih Gill, a Pakistani national. All three were arrested and investigations begun.

Last Thursday over Rs 1 lakh in fake currency was seized from three passengers.The Customs authorities have put up big multi-lingual hoardings on the platform asking the passengers to exchange their currency at Lahore before entering India. One of the boards read: “Passengers are warned that carrying of any Indian currency without RBI permission while departing from India or entering India is prohibited. Any violation shall be liable for confiscation and prosecution.”

The authorised money changers at the station too had pasted the instructions with regard to fake currency issued by the Reserve Bank of India. While exchanging the money they exercise utmost caution lest it should be fake currency note. According to reliable sources, the innocent passengers are lured by the wandering money-changers at Lahore railway station by offering them attractive rates of Indian currency and pass off the fake currency. The money-changers here at the railway station offer 75 Indian rupees against 100 Pakistani rupees.

Last week, the Attari Customs authorities had recovered fake Indian currency notes in the denomination of Rs 500, valued at Rs 99,000, from an Indian passenger, Wahid Ahmed, a resident of the trans-Yamuna area of Delhi. A high-level team of the Delhi police arrived here today to interrogate Ahmed to gather names of his contacts in Delhi and elsewhere.

The Union Home and Finance Ministry is constantly monitoring the situation as there are reports that the ISI was trying to destabilise the Indian economy by pushing in large quantities of fake Indian currency, besides narcotics and explosives.

Even as the Government of India had today clarified that there was no move to stop the bi-weekly Samjhauta Express plying between Attari and Lahore, there is panic among exporters and the common people of both countries.

While speaking to TNS, some passengers, who landed here from Pakistan on the Samjhautha Express, said that it would not be stopped as it was an “emotional link” between both the countries and helped to cement the blood relations among thousands of families living on both sides.

Begum Habiba, an Indian national hailing from Moradabad, who is married in Karachi while talking to TNS said that if the train service is stopped, she would be physically separated from her parents. She added that the train and bus service fares were within their means while air travel was out of their reach. The rail fare from Lahore to Attari was only Rs 22.

Another Pakistani Muslim, Shahid Ali from Lahore, pointed out that only through this train he along with his six family members could reach Aligarh in just Rs 500. If he had to fly into Delhi, it could have cost him Rs 9100 per passenger.

Mohamad Ali from Karachi said a statesman like Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would never allow the stoppage of the rail link with Pakistan as it was the only binding factor between the countries. He praised the Indian Prime Minister for taking the initiative to start the bus service between Lahore and Delhi.

He added that after Partition, a large number of Indian Muslims had married off their sons and daughters in both countries.

Meanwhile, Indian security agencies at the railway station have issued strict instructions to various authorised money changers to be more vigilant about fake currency notes.

One money changer, Mr Darshan Kumar, said that it was difficult to identify a fake currency note. “These are little heavy with lighter print,” he added.

Most of the Indian passengers who arrived on the Samjhauta Express had pointed out that the connivance of Pakistan Government in promoting the unscrupulous money changers was obvious as it had not taken any legal action against them despite the fact that Mr Vajpayee had lodged a strong protest.