Personnel from Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have uncovered an illegal currency counterfeiting facility operating inside a rented residential property adjacent to the Muchni Rohingya refugee camp in the Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar district. During a coordinated law enforcement operation conducted on Sunday, 24 May 2026, three specialized operational teams from the paramilitary force seized a substantial quantity of counterfeit Bangladeshi Taka notes, high-tech manufacturing equipment, and computing devices.
The security operation, initiated on the basis of confidential intelligence reports, resulted in the interception and arrest of two individuals who were actively transporting the forged currency. However, the technical personnel responsible for the actual manufacturing and printing of the counterfeit bills managed to evade capture prior to the arrival of the raiding parties.
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Profiles of the Apprehended Suspects
The two detained individuals have been formally identified by law enforcement authorities. The first suspect is 30-year-old Nazmul Haq, the son of Alauddin, originating from the Sarail Police Station area in the Brahmanbaria district; Haq operates commercially as a scrap metal dealer. The second suspect is 36-year-old Azizur Rahman, the son of Abul Kalam, who resides inside the Shalbogan Rohingya refugee camp in Teknaf and is employed locally as a battery-powered easy-bike (locally known as a tom-tom) driver.
The discovery follows a similar enforcement action executed by the District Detective Branch (DB) of police on 6 March, where a counterfeiting den was dismantled inside a rented house in Ramu upazila, resulting in the seizure of 5 lakh Taka in forged notes and the arrest of another manufacturer originating from Jessore.
Intelligence Tracking and Vehicle Interception
Providing a detailed briefing on the operational mechanics, the Deputy Commandant of Teknaf-2 BGB, Major Mubasshir Nakib Tarafder, clarified that intelligence units had flagged an impending bulk movement of forged currency on Sunday morning. In response, three strategic units from the BGB took up hidden positions along key nodes of the Cox’s Bazar–Teknaf Highway.
A temporary vehicular checkpoint was established on the Muchni access road. During the surveillance phase, BGB personnel signaled a battery-powered tom-tom traveling from Jadimura towards Hnila to halt for a routine administrative inspection. The driver attempted to accelerate past the checkpoint, prompting an immediate pursuit by a BGB motorcycle unit, which successfully box-intercepted the vehicle.
A physical search of a black bag found inside the passenger compartment revealed 12 distinct bundles containing counterfeit currency totaling 12 lakh Taka, alongside 5,000 Taka in genuine legal tender. Both Nazmul Haq and Azizur Rahman were immediately taken into physical custody at the scene.
According to preliminary confessions made during initial field interrogations, Nazmul Haq revealed that he had taken possession of the 12 lakh Taka in counterfeit notes directly from the refugee camp premises. He had been contracted to transport the contraband to the Hnila market in exchange for a fixed courier commission of 10,000 Taka.
Raid on the Counterfeit Production Facility
Following further interrogation of the detainees and leveraging real-time digital geolocation data, the BGB units executed a secondary raid on Sunday afternoon at a secluded, tin-roofed rented house situated on the eastern flank of the Jadimura market. Alerted by the initial highway arrests, the core members of the counterfeiting syndicate locked the premises and fled the scene.
BGB personnel forced entry into the abandoned structure and recovered an active production line, including one laptop, a desktop computer, two advanced high-resolution printers, specialized chemical inks, and heavy-grade paper stocks explicitly formatted for mimicking currency security features.
Institutional Warnings and Seasonal Distribution Risks
Major Mubasshir Nakib Tarafder emphasized that the syndicate was deliberately attempting to flood local cattle markets and refugee supply chains with counterfeit 1,000 and 500 Taka notes ahead of the upcoming holy Eid-ul-Adha festival, a period traditionally characterized by high-volume cash transactions for livestock.
The Acting Chairman of the Hnila Union Parishad, Mohammad Ali, verified that organized networks are increasingly exploiting the dense population of the Rohingya-inhabited zones to introduce forged bills into the rural economy, resulting in significant financial losses for illiterate traders. Multi-agency intelligence estimates compiled by the Police and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) indicate that over one hundred individuals, including organized male and female couriers, are currently active across Teknaf, Ukhia, Ramu, and Chakaria upazilas.
Following the conclusion of field processing on Sunday evening, the BGB formally transferred the arrested suspects, the seized currency, and the computing infrastructure over to the Teknaf Model Police Station to initiate formal statutory charges and deeper forensic tracking of the syndicate’s leadership.