KATHMANDU, July 31: Authorities in Nepal have arrested a Pakistani national for carrying more than a quarter of a million dollars in fake Indian currency, officials said on Tuesday.

“The fake currency totalled 10.2 million Indian rupees (252,000 dollars) in 500 and 1,000 denominations,” a senior security official at the airport said, adding the bills were hidden in soap bar wrappers.

Nepal shares a long, porous southern border with India, and Indian analysts frequently allege that Pakistani intelligence services use Nepal as a route to bring in fake Indian bills.

“This is one of the biggest seizures of counterfeit currency that I know of,” a police officer said.

“We believe that this is an organised network and we are investigating it,” the officer said.

The accused Abdul Wahib, 40, who told police he was a businessman, was stopped on Monday at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport upon arrival from Karachi.—AFP