Fake Indian currency notes: AP among states where seizures were among highest
TIRUPATI: Watch out when dealing with cash transactions in Andhra Pradesh. For, we may end up with fake currency notes in our hands. The state reported fake currency seizures of the highest kind in the country last year as per data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
The records put AP in fourth place in the list of states where seizures were of the highest kind. AP occupied the third place in the face value of such seizures.
The NCRB Data 2020, compiled by crime record bureaus across states, showed that 17,705 fake Indian currency notes (FICN) were seized in the state in 2020.
Maharashtra topped the list with the seizure of 6,99,495 such notes, followed by West Bengal with 24,227 and Gujarat with 20360 notes.
The total numbers of FICN seized in AP in previous years were as follows: 33,047 notes in 2017, 17,493 in 2018, 40,000 in 2019 and 17705 in 2020. In the year 2019, AP ranked number-two in the country in the seizure of fake currency notes.
The worth of notes seized last year, based on its printed value, amounted to Rs 1,44,50,550, which was less than half the face value of the notes seized in 2019 – Rs 3.70 crore -- and slightly higher than the value of FICN seized in 2017 and 2018, namely Rs 1.21 crore and Rs 1.11 crore respectively.
After Maharashtra that seized notes of Rs 83,61,23,400 and West Bengal that seized Rs 2,46,27,250, AP reported seizures of the third highest face value of fake currency seized in the country in 2020.
The most alarming was the rise in the flow of counterfeit currency notes in the denomination of Rs 500 (new), which increased to 11,102 last year from 9,266 in 2019; 3,061 in 2018 and 1,696 in 2017. In all, about 4,241 notes were in the denomination of Rs 2000; 350 were in old Rs 500 denomination; 752 in Rs 200 denomination; 580 in new Rs 100 denomination and 679 in new Rs 50 denomination.
An official attributed the rise in seizures and arrests to the heightened surveillance by the police.
“The department has strengthened security measures and surveillance against fake currency rackets in recent years. Sharing of intelligence among the security agencies, enhancing security at state borders and using new surveillance technology helped the police effect these seizures,” the official said.
