Fake notes flood Delhi: Police on alert as Pakistan pumps counterfeit cash through Nepalese border in 'economic terrorism' which funds criminal gangs



The high-quality counterfeit currency flooding the capital is worrying Delhi Police. And their worries are justified, given the sudden spurt in the fake notes being pumped in by Pakistan, mainly through the porous Nepal border.



Last year a whopping Rs 17.3 crore bogus notes were seized, almost 50 times more than the Rs 28,20,390 recovered in 2011. Experts term the phenomenon "economic terrorism by Pakistan", and see it as a threat to the economic stability of the country.



The increased influx of fictitious cash has forced Delhi Police to set up a separate cell in the Parliament Street police station, where individuals or banks can submit fake currency they receive through different means. And in the first month of this year, Rs 32 lakh of fake money has already been deposited there.









"Most of the Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) have been detected by banks and later deposited with us. However, the crackdown on fake currency smuggling will continue," said Neeraj Kumar, city police commissioner.



Police maintain that the major points for pushing fake currency continue to be the border states of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, UP, Bihar and West Bengal. Bogus money is routed through these states from Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Dubai, with Pakistan being the main source.



The most notorious routes for smuggling fake currency into India were the Bangladesh-Kolkata route (via the North 24 Parganas), Nepal-Gorakhpur, and Nepal-Bihar routes. But now police say Jharkhand's Sahibganj district has emerged as the main landing spot for fake notes sent from across the border.



Security agencies are flummoxed with the mint quality of the fakes, which makes detection difficult. As well as adopting the imported paper used by the government, the counterfeiters are able to copy colour, ink, special watermarks and even micro lettering to make fake notes look like the real ones.



Police say more than 90 per cent of the features of fake currency notes match the original.



RBI governor Dr Duvvuri Subbarao has also expressed his concern over fake currency notes circulating in the country. Speaking in a public outreach programme at Lalpur Karauta village in UP earlier this week he said: "We are facing one more problem and that is of fake currency notes. There are some criminal, unsocial elements who are involved in fraudulent activities. We are also trying to see that the police department is vigilant towards these fraudsters."



The menace forced the government in December last year to approve an amendment in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, under which a person or group of individuals and an association who are involved in counterfeit currency circulation can be booked, if it is tantamount to a threat to the economic stability of the country.



In December 2012, the counsel of National Investigation Agency, submitted before the Supreme Court that security agencies have maintained that the wilful smuggling and circulation of high quality FICN printed in Pakistan into our country with the direct intent to threaten the economic security, sovereignty and integrity of India is tantamount to a 'terror act'.



The 2011 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report of the US State Department said India faces an increasing inflow of counterfeit notes, produced primarily in Pakistan. Terrorist and criminal networks use this money to finance their activities in the country.



In 2012, Delhi Police recovered around Rs 2.4 crore fake currency denominations from two tempos in Dabri area of the Capital. The arrest of the accused revealed that they had smuggled the copied cash through the Line of Control in J&K.



"It was brought into the capital in a train from Jammu," said a senior police official.



The FICN also comes into the country through diplomatic courier baggage, police claim. In the current scenario the business of fake currency has not remained the staple of only the kingpins.

"We are sharing inputs with other security agencies as well to keep a tab on this smuggling to bust all such networks," said S.N. Srivastava, Special Commissioner (special cell) of Delhi Police.







