A series of coordinated, high-intensity operations by the Assam Police has blown the lid off what investigators believe is an immense interstate counterfeit currency operation. Over a span of just 48 hours, targeted raids across railway platforms and major city checkpoints in Guwahati led to the arrest of seven cartel operatives and the seizure of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) carrying a face value of over ₹20 lakh.
However, the true shockwave hit during the tactical interrogation of an arrested cartel runner, Ajay Vishwakarma. His disclosures point to an active, well-organized syndicate that has allegedly pumped over ₹100 crore in fake currency directly into the commercial bloodstream of Guwahati.
The Interstate Network
The interrogation of the arrested operatives has exposed a highly organized supply chain running directly through the heart of Assam:
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The Masterminds: According to investigative leads, the sprawling syndicate is allegedly spearheaded by a husband-wife duo identified as Sahil (alias Ismail Ali) and his wife Sumi, alongside key operational lieutenants Afsanur Rahman and Chinmoy Kalita.
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The Logistics Hub: Counterfeit notes are systematically manufactured and transported out of the Bangalmara region in Lakhimpur district, a notorious hub for economic crimes—and ferried down to the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) area in Guwahati for strategic distribution.
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The Interstate Footprint: The network’s tentacles extend far beyond state lines. Dispur Police intercepted a transit vehicle near Nagaland House, arresting three specialized operatives – Anuj Gupta, Mahesh Shukla, and Roshan Gupta, who had transported large consignment blocks by road all the way from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
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The Strategic Threat
The sheer scale of this operation, evidenced by separate, concurrent seizures like the ₹7.37 lakh haul recovered from Jharkhand-bound couriers at the Kamakhya Railway Station indicates that this is not a localized, small-time printing setup.
Given the geographical proximity of the Northeast transit corridors and the sophisticated nature of the seized high-quality ₹500 facsimiles, security analysts strongly suspect deeper structural links.
An economic sabotage operation of this magnitude points directly toward the involvement of hostile external intelligence networks, specifically Pakistan’s ISI operating through illicit, porous border channels in Bangladesh.
Historically, these state-sponsored deep-cover networks have flooded the northeastern border states with high-quality FICN modules to destabilize the regional economy, fund localized insurgencies, and create domestic inflation through artificial monetary infusion. By utilizing interstate transit networks rooted in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, the syndicate was effectively creating a decentralized network designed to mask its external command hubs.