Fake currency keeps Andhra Pradesh cops on their toes

Kurnool: With a string of counterfeit currency notes being caught in Dhone, Pattikonda and Adoni last week, Kurnool seems to be emerging as a hub for fake currency circulation. With no cash in the ATMs, there is severe shortage of cash in the district. In this backdrop, if anyone tenders liquid cash, shops and business houses are willing to accept it. It is this need for cash that has led to fake currency becoming a big business in Kurnool.

Areas like Pattikonda, Kodumur and Adoni have organised gangs that appoint agents to circulate counterfeit notes. The modus operandi of the gang is that a Nellore-based person collects real legal tender against fake currency in 1:3 ratio. That means for every Rs 100 original currency note, Rs 300 worth fake currency is given. It works out to a whopping 66 per cent profit on initial investment, it is learnt.

Adoni DSP Ankineedu Prasad said that the fake currency circulated by gangs in the area is difficult to identify as fake, unless one is well versed in differentiating fake from original. He said that the Adoni police apprehended a person trying to exchange a fake Rs 100 note at a petrol pump and a cool drink shop owner in Pattikonda and seized Rs 1,70,000 in fake currency.

Dhone police also apprehended a man in the first week of April for printing fake currency using a scanner and colour Xerox machine. Dhone circle inspector Rajagopal Naidu said that Dhone was a stand alone event unlike Adoni, where a chain of individuals were involved.

Fake currency is increasing at an alarming rate and is being channeled to remote areas including mandal headquarters. It is not confined to one town or taluk, but is rampant in the entire district, said an enforcement official. The nexus between gold and fake currency smugglers cannot be ruled out, he averred. With Adoni being a nerve centre of gold smuggling, the prevalence of such enterprises are bound to flourish, the official added.