ISI design to revive terrorism foiled

JALANDHAR, June 21: Punjab police today claimed to have unearthed a nefarious design of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence agency to fund...

JALANDHAR, June 21: Punjab police today claimed to have unearthed a nefarious design of Pakistan8217;s Inter-Service Intelligence agency to fund revival of terrorism in the state by smuggling counterfeit Indian currency on a large scale.

Stating this at a press conference here today, state police chief P.C.Dogra said Rs 80,000 of fake Indian currency sent to parents of a jailed terrorist to help them defray litigation expenses has been recovered at instance of jailed terrorist. He said when the jailed terrorist, lodged in the high security central jail here, told SSP Hardeep Singh Dhillon and SP Detective Madan Gopal that two Sikh youth had delivered eight bundles of 100 currency notes each of Rs 100 denomination to his parents, police swung into action immediately and recovered the currency found to be counterfeit when examined by experts.

The DGP said they disclosed this information to the two visiting police officers because he suspected that the Sikh youth who delivered the currency to his parents had been responsible for his in the jail. He said the jailed inmate further suspected the currency to be fake and he voiced his apprehension to the police officers, who visited the central jail on June 17 as part of routine exercise to hear the grievances of under-trials.

Dogra said since most of the terrorists out on bail or having been released in Punjab were flush with funds, he, therefore, did not rule out of the possibility of ISI having pumped in fake Indian currency on a large scale in its desperate attempt to revive terrorism in Punjab. He revealed that six Babbar Khalsa terrorists who recently made an abortive attempt to free a Beant Singh8217;s assassination case accused from Chandigarh Burail jail were also found to having enough money on them.

The police chief said he suspected that fake currency seized by police was barely tip of the iceberg.

The DGP revealed that only those terrorists or their families having fundamentalist leanings were being provided fake currency, indicating determined attempts by ISI to fund regrouping of such terrorists, either out on bail or having been released after trials, in an apparent bid to reviving terrorism in Punjab.

The DGP said the Punjab youth, who had allegedly migrated to European countries in the last few years, were also being trapped by the ISI agents and hard-core extremists settled abroad as part of the overall design of the ISI to foment trouble in Punjab.

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Dogra said Punjab police were alive to the danger but suspected smuggling of fake Indian currency on a large scale has added a new dimension to ISI8217;s continuing attempt to revive terrorism.