Two Afghan nationals held with fake currency

Acting on the information from Central Intelligence Branch (CIB),the police raided the house of one Mohammad Ayub Khan,an Islampur-based businessman,and picked up the Afghan nationals. Initially,they claimed that they were innocent and said that they are in the money lending business,but with the seizure of fake currency and the ration cards,they were detained for further interrogation,police sources said.

The house owner Mohammad Ayub Khan has also been detained. The arrests that took place on Independence Day alerted all the intelligence wings of the state and top police officers from Kolkata rushed to North Dinajpur to question them.

Sources said on Monday a team from CIB will be arriving in Kolkata to interrogate the men.

Superintendent of Police (North Dinajpur) Shankar Singh said that a possible link with militant groups cannot be ruled out.

Singh said: “They procured one ration card from Kolkata and another from Darjeeling. We have already sent our officers to these two places to question the person who issued ration cards to them. If we found someone in the ration department guilty then he will be arrested.”

The investigators are verifying all the international phone numbers,which were found from their possession. During interrogation,they claimed that they have extensively travelled in India.

“Recently,they had visited Jalpaiguri and Kashmir. We are trying to find out whom they met in these places. Both of them are not co-operating with the investigators but we are hopeful that soon they will reveal everything,” the superintendent of police said.

This is not the first time that an Afghan national has been arrested. Last year,a man from Afghanistan was arrested from central Kolkata for threatening a man in Dubai through satellite phone. Later he turned out to be an arms smuggler.