Hizbul man held with fake currency

NEW DELHI: A Hizbul Mujahideen suspect was arrested along with two associates for allegedly running a fake currency racket. The accused have been identified as the 26-year-old mastermind, Sirajuddin, 32-year-old Mohammad Yunus, who allegedly has links with Hizbul Mujahideen, and graphic designer Mohammad Asif (26), who was in charge of the designing and printing of fake notes.Yunus allegedly worked as a communication expert for Hizbul Mujahideen and had been absconding from Jammu after jumping bail.
The New Delhi special staff was tipped off that Sirajuddin and Yunus would come to meet a buyer, identified as Zakhir, near Khan Market. "We arrested the duo with counterfeit currency of face value of Rs 2 lakh around 8.45pm near Amrita Shergill Marg. A raid was conducted at their rented office in Daryaganj and Asif was arrested. A computer, printer, scanner and leaf machine; green and blue foils; a cutter; cartridges; papers; and raw materials used for preparing fake notes were also recovered. Counterfeit notes of face value of Rs 10 lakh of the denominations of 100, 500 and 1000 were finally recovered from the accused," said investigating officer Bhanu Pratap.
Police sources said a possible hawala connection and the accused persons' links with terrorist outfits like LeT are being probed. It is suspected that they may have intended to supply the currency further to these outfits. The accused are being interrogated by specialized Delhi Police units, including the special cell and IB.
According to police, Yunus has been hiding in the city for the past three years and was given shelter by Asif. He had allegedly started working as a wireless messenger for Hizbul in 1995 and used to convey messages from Hizbul to LoC. He had surrendered in 1999 but then joined Hizbul again in 2002. In 2003, he was arrested by Army Intelligence for criminal conspiracy and abetting waging of war against the Indian government.
Yunus had come into contact with Asif when the latter had designed some visiting cards for him. Asif, who is in police custody, told Times City, "Yunus was staying with me in my rented accommodation in Suiwala. He would help us get buyers for the fake currency." Yunus confessed to police that he had earlier been jailed for sedition and possession of illegal arms and had jumped bail and fled to Delhi three years ago.
Sirajuddin said they would sell the currency at half the face value. "We demanded Rs 1 lakh for fake currency with face value of Rs 2 lakh. Asif had done a six-month course in graphic designing. The raw material for the fake currency notes was easily available in all local markets. Our operations had been going on for the past three months," he said. Sirajuddin had been arrested in 2005 after he was caught selling pirated CDs.
"Yunus, who comes from Ramban in Jammu, is the son of a forest guard and was arrested in September 2003 for allegedly possessing a hand grenade, pistol and knife. He was released on bail in December 2005 but had stopped attending court after 2008," said K C Dwivedi, additional commissioner of police (New Delhi).