KOHAT, May 30: The intelligence personnel on Thursday foiled an attempt to smuggle fake currency from Darra Adamkhel into Punjab and arrested one person whose identity is being kept secret.

The security has been put on high alert after some people cut the high tension electricity lines and water pipes near Jarma on the Indus Highway for many times during the last month. Central jail is located near Jarma where a number of suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban members are being held.

The incident took place in the presence of a large number of security staff who guard important places in the town round-the-clock.

During the routine checking of vehicles at Gulshanabad checkpoint the staff of Janglekhel police station searched a suspicious person travelling from Darra Adamkhel which resulted in the recovery of 20 fake currency notes of Rs 500 and 10 notes of Rs 100 denomination.

The accused had successfully crossed into settled area after passing through two checkpoints on the border between Kohat and Darra Adamkhel.

At these two checkpoints, manned by 45 staffers of Anti- Narcotics Force and Customs, strict checking is carried out of the vehicles and the commuters, particularly who travel from Darra.

During the last six months fake currency worth Rs 1.4 million had been seized which was being smuggled out from Darra, whereas according to customs officials many cases go undetected as low-grade staff is hesitant to check vehicles with small digits, believed to be owned by influential families.

A report submitted to the NWFP government by the intelligence agencies recently revealed that a terrorist group was circulating Rs 500 and Rs 100 fake notes and prize bonds worth millions of rupees. These have been presumably printed in some foreign country on highly sophisticated machinery and paper.

The report further said the Rs 500 notes were available for Rs 300 whereas Rs 100 notes were being sold in Darra market and elsewhere in the open for Rs 65. Earlier these notes were available for Rs 150 and Rs 25 only which were of inferior quality and easy to detect.

Such notes were printed in the settled areas of the country and brought to the tribal area of Darra Adamkhel for sale. Similarly, the Rs 1,000 note of superior quality was being sold for Rs 700 now which was earlier sold at Rs 300.

The currency was mostly being spread through women and influential gangs. An official said keeping in view the low profit margin and the risk involved in the practice it could be easily deduced that the purpose of these people was not minting money but to harm the national interest.

The terrorists were trying to weaken the country’s economy and spread harassment among the business community and banks in this modern nature of warfare, the report explained.

The officials also admitted that large quantities of such notes had been recovered but the flow from across the borders, particularly from Afghanistan side was unhampered and bulk of the consignments was in circulation.

The officials of State Bank of Pakistan, Peshawar, told Dawn on telephone that they had received large quantities of such fake currency notes during the past one month and which were hard to detect even by the experts due to close similarity with the original notes.

The fresh fake currency also contains the delicate silver lining inside the notes printed with the mark of State Bank of Pakistan, which distinguished the fake from the real one, an official added.