RBI shocked as fake note passes ultra-violet test

The police on Monday arrested two persons of an international racket on charges of circulating counterfeit currency notes in the city even as their three aides managed to escape.

The police said the fake notes they seized from the arrested duo on Monday are made such that they can pass even ultra-violet test.

A police officer said even the officials of the Reserve Bank of India are shocked as to how it can happen. The fake notes have copied about 35 of the 50 unique features of original notes.

Anti-national elements, mainly Pakistan-based outfits, are involved in manufacturing and circulating fake currency notes in India to destabilise the country’s economy, said a senior police official.

The officer, requesting anonymity, said the special pulp and machine used to make the notes are imported from China but the manufacturers are based in Pakistan.

He said earlier, the police had arrested Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals on the charges of circulating fake notes, of `\Rs500 and Rs1,000 denomination. He said the fake-note gang must be having more than 80 members and they are sent to India from Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The police said these gangs mainly target business centres of metropolitan centres such as Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. In each of these cities, the gangs have reportedly deployed a team of 10-15 members to circulate counterfeit notes.

The gangs operate in tourist places such as Ooty, Kodaikanal, Goa and Puducherry too.

The gangs have appointed some agents in the country to circulate the fake notes. The agents work for a high commission. The gangs use teenagers too to circulate fake currency notes. Joint commissioner of police (crime-east), B Dayanand, said the police were trying to trace the kingpins of the gangs.