2017-02-17 Fri

Security forces intercepted an attempt to smuggle fake 2000 rupees notes across the border. 100 counterfeit notes were seized, all of which were thrown across the fence for someone from the Indian side. The criminals escaped but the bundle was left behind. The Bangladesh border is a preferred for such activities because it is porous.

The seized fake notes copied 10 out of the 17 original security features that are offered by the RBI. The forensic reports will be obtained in a few weeks. Reports say that six obverse features including the see-through register, the Devanagari inscription, portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, and the Ashoka pillar emblem were copied. Four reverse features, like the year of manufacturing (2016), the Swachh Bharat logo, the value written in 16 languages, and the motif of Mangalyaan were also copied. Unlike the earlier cases of counterfeiting, these notes appear to be of better quality.

Fake Rs 2,000 notes were seized for the first time on 23rd January by West Bengal police from a Malda village. Two more such notes were found in the area on 4th February. 40 more were found on 8th February from a smuggler in Murshidabad. Three more fake notes were confiscated on 13th February from Umar Faruq in Malda native. The next consignment was intercepted based on Umar Faruq’s leads.

Fake notes that were found in Bengaluru, Gujarat and Haryana, which were only colour copies printed on laser or inkjet printers. But the ones that were found more recently look very authentic.