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Fake notes have home ministry worried

Onkar Singh

Alarm bells are ringing in the Union home ministry after two Somalians, Fatima Ali Ahmed and Afidwali Hassan Hussain, were arrested by the economic offence wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation along with counterfeit notes of Rs 500 worth Rs 50,000.

So far, fake currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 100 denominations have been seized from Inter-Services Intelligence agents and Pakistani nationals visiting India. But this is the first time that foreign nationals have been caught with counterfeit currency.

After huge caches of fake currency were recovered from various parts of the country in past few months, the home ministry asked the Central Bureau of Investigations to look into the matter.

Alarmed by the heavy seizures of the fake currency notes in various parts of the country, the Reserve Bank of India had recently banned circulation of Rs 500 notes in six districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh on the Indo-Nepal border.

Union Finance minister Yashwant Sinha had announced that his ministry will form an expert committee to suggest ways to deal with the situation. But because of the preoccupation of the ministry with the budget a formal notification is yet to be issued.

The home ministry officials have also expressed concern about the seizure of fake currency in Chakrota in Dehra Dun district of Uttar Pradesh. The Uttar Pradesh police arrested one Manoj Singh Negi and recovered huge amounts of fake notes of Rs 500 and Rs 100 denominations from his person. They also recovered a letter reportedly written by of one of the UP minister's private secretary. According to reports appearing in Mussoorie Times, a Hindi weekly printed from the area, Matavr Singh Kandari, the minister in question, has denied his involvement in the incident. According to the paper, the minister admitted that his office frequently issues letters to his constituents to enable them to get railway reservations etc. One such letter could have been given to Negi, he said.

The district administration is now trying to find out as to how the ISI penetrated places like Chakrota, Kalsi, Nathgarh and Vikas Nagar, which are important from the military point of view. In fact, Chakrota is the base headquarters of some military establishments. Agencies like the Intelligence Bureau, the Research and Analysis Wing and the Military Intelligence are now trying to locate and destroy ISI agents working in the area.

According to Sharda Prasad the director of the National Crime Records Bureau, so far fake currency worth over Rs 18.3 million has been seized from various parts of the country. The figure is likely to go up as the figures from Patna and Bangalore were yet to come in.

"In 1966 the seized fake notes amounted to Rs 746,000. It increased to Rs 6.5 million in 1998. But the seizures almost doubled last year," she said, adding that if the situation isn't controlled forthwith, even finding one or two fake notes in a bundle could cause people to lose faith in the system.

He said the fake notes were printed as well as those put out by the RBI.

"The kind of paper that they are using to print fake Indian currency is the same quality of paper used by us. We must take up this matter at some international forum as soon as possible to stop circulation of the fake currency notes in India.

"Fortunately for us there has been not even a single case where the connivance of the bank employees or local police has come to light. If this happens, the economy could crumble," said Prasad.

Experts have advised the government of India to change the printing technology. They believe that if the government adopted technologies used by the Australians and the New Zealanders printing fake currency would be nearly impossible. The polymer-based Australian and New Zealand notes are not only difficult to copy but they also last up to seven times longer.

Officials in the ministry of finance and the Reserve Bank of India are reluctant to talk on the matter. The only two persons who can talk about it are Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha himself or the RBI Governor Bimal Jalan, they said.

EARLIER REPORTS:
Seven foreigners held in fake currency case
Kathmandu confirms ISI hand in fake currency operation
Govt advised to replace Rs 500 notes

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