THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CBI has expressed its willingness to investigate the Parassala counterfeit currency note case as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has withdrawn after completing the primary investigation.
The case relates to the arrest of eight migrant workers from Malda district in West Bengal in October 2011 and the seizure of fake Indian currency to the tune of ` 2.19 lakh from them.
The racket came to light as the police recovered 49 fake notes of `1,000 denomination from two persons near Parassala and the remaining six accused were also late arrested from various lodges in Thiruvananthapuram.
The modus operandi of the racket which circulated the counterfeit notes in the denominations of `100, ` 500 and `1,000 from Pakistan is to send them to Bangladesh by air. The notes reach Kerala through the migrant workers for circulation. The state police had recommended to the government to hand over the investigation to NIA after they realised that the gravity of the case needed a deeper and comprehensive probe.
It is learnt that the NIA decided to hand over the case to CBI as they found that the counterfeit racket had its roots across the country when the police nabbed a gang of Bengali youths from Hyderabad in the beginning of this year with fake notes to the tune of `10 lakh.