Guwahati: The Border Security Force (BSF) Assam frontier has taken help from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials to train its jawans and people living close to India-Bangladesh border to detect fake Indian currency notes (FICN) in circulation so that circulation of the same could be checked at the border areas after those are smuggled into the country from Bangladesh through the border.
A joint workshop on detection of fake Indian currency notes for BSF personnel and the border population of the bordering Dhubri district was organised by the BSF Frontier Headquarter, Guwahati with the assistance of Reserve Bank of India, Guwahati, during September 10-12, a BSF official informed here.
During the course of border domination, intelligence branch of BSF, Guwahati Frontier have seized of FICN worth Rs 13,96,800 since October, 2011 in Dhubri sector in Assam, Cooch Behar and Falakata in West Bengal. Twenty FICN racketeers have been apprehended in Dhubri and Cooch Behar on the Indo-Bangladesh Border during the period. Out of the 20 apprehended FICN racketeers, three were Bangladeshi nationals and 17 were Indian nationals, who were mostly residents of the border villages.
People living on the border being illiterate and unemployed and stand vulnerable for being lured into the illegal business of circulation of the FICN. The aim to conduct the workshop/training programme was not only to educate BSF personnel deployed on the frontier but also to sensitise the border population on how to detect fake currency notes.
The workshops were organised separately for BSF troops and border population by L Sarma, Assistant Manager of RBI, Guwahati along with senior BSF officials.
Workshops were held at villages of Mankachar and Hallidayganj for border population, at the BSF sector headquarter in Dhubri for the BSF personnel. Another workshop was held for border population at the border outpost (BOP) at Kedar on September 12.
The expert from the Reserve Bank of India used audio-visual media in English as well as in Hindi to impart the training. He also used local Assamese language while imparting the training for the border population for their easy comprehension and understanding.