Rs 500 fakes more in circulation as Rs 1000 notes 'costly'

NEW DELHI: Pakistan ISI-run mafia indulging in production of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) has been laying more emphasis on counterfeiting Rs 500 and lesser denomination notes as compared to those of Rs 1,000.
This came to light after some consignments of fake currency were intercepted by security agencies and during interrogation of people involved in the racket it was found that counterfeiting of Rs 1,000 was costlier than notes of lesser denominations, official sources said.

According to a report by Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), India is "extremely vulnerable" to FICN from Nepal, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand through Pakistani operators and their conduits.

"The most widely circulated FICN denominations are Rs 500, followed by Rs 100 and Rs 1,000. Seizures also indicate notes of Rs 50 and Rs 20 in circulation," it said.

Intelligence assessments and seizure reports confirm that India is extremely vulnerable to FICN from Nepal, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand. "Pakistani operators based in Nepal, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand act as recipient of FICN from Pakistan as well as conduits to the distribution channels in India through air and land border," the report said.

Seizure reports also indicate FICN racketeers using villages, weekly haats, liquor shops and petrol pumps of the border areas with Nepal and Bangladesh to pump the fake currency into the system, it said.

"Bulk detections of FICN in the bank branches including Reserve Bank of India (RBI) offices indicate easy acceptance of such currency by public and the FICN has crossed different filtering barriers because of high quality counterfeiting including sophisticated security features in FICN," said the report.