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Omanis in trouble in India for fake currency

Rupees bought from recognised money exchange turns out to be fake

Muscat: Fake Indian currency has surfaced at money exchanges in Oman, putting three Omanis through a tough time while on a visit to Kerala, coastal state in southern India.

 
“It has been 13 days since my cousin and his wife are under house arrest at their hotel in Ernakulam,” Ali Al Rushaidi, an elected Municipal Councillor from Suwaiq, told Gulf News from Ernakulam over telephone.

 
Al Rushaidi’s cousin Waleed Khalid Salam Al Rushaidi, who is a teacher in Suwaiq, and his wife have been detained by the Ernakulam police since January 29 for trying to use fake Indian currency. “They have not been arrested but two policemen guard outside their hotel room and they are not allowed to go out,” Al Rushaidi said.

 
He added that the Omani couple had officially bought 40,000 Indian rupees from Asia Express Exchange located at the LuLu Hypermarket in Khaboura, about 184-km north to Muscat.

 
“The currency turned out to be fake when they tried to use it to make a payment here,” he said from Ernakulam.

 
Al Rushaidi said that they had furnished all the proof, including CCTV footage of Waleed buying currency from the Asian Express Exchange.

 
“They [money exchange] had bought 100,000 Indian rupees from a Pakistani. The rest of the amount (60,000) had been handed over to the Khaboura Police Station by the exchange,” he revealed, adding that the a letter clearing Waleed and his wife from the Khaboura Police Station was also handed over to the Indian state police.

 
“We don’t understand why it is taking so long for the Indian authorities to release my cousin despite giving all the evidence for his innocence,” he wondered. The elected Municipal Councillor from Suwaiq reiterated that they want to return to Oman. “Any case related matter could be coordinated through Indian embassy in Muscat,” he suggested.

 
“Waleed has six children, including a two-year-old baby, and they are waiting for their parents, who are not at all at fault,” he pleaded desperately.

 
He also said that Waleed’s brother, Mohammad Bin Khalid Al Rushaidi, who is an elected Shura Council member from Suwaiq, was also camping in Ernakulam to sort out the matter. “The Omani Consul has also visited us and doing his best to resolve the issue but so far we have been pillar to post,” he said.

 
He said that Oman-based Indian businessman Mohammad Ali of Galfar was extending all help he could to get them back to India.

 
Mohammad Al Gazali, a local partner with the Lulu Group for Asian Express Exchange, said that they had already filed a case against the cashier for dereliction of duty. “The cashier did not take identity proof of the person who sold the Indian currency to the exchange.,” he said.

 
“That person has also sold fake currency to other exchanges in Oman and there are more Omanis in trouble in India,” he said, adding that his company was doing its best to cooperate with the police here in Oman as well as in India to see that the al Rushaidi family return home sooner than later.

 
“We have handed over the balance fake currency to the police here and have also provided whatever evidence, including photographs, receipts for currency purchase, video footage to police in India for an early release of Al Rushaidi family,” he clarified.

 
He said that the General Manager of the exchange V.V. Jacob was already in India and he himself was leaving tonight to help the stranded Omani family.

 
On Al Rushaidi’s wish that Yusuf Ali, Lulu Group chairman, intervene in the case, Al Gazali said that laws of the land had to be followed and no one can expedite the matter.

 
According to Siddique Hassan of Overseas Indian Culture Congress, two more Omanis are facing similar problems. One had bought Indian currency from an exchange at the Muscat International Airport and it turned out to be fake while another Omani was caught with fake Indian rupees in Munnar, a hill station in Kerala.

 
Meanwhile, money exchanges across Oman are on guard after fake Indian currency case has come to public notice.