NIA seeks home dept nod to probe fake currency cases

Kochi: After repeated seizures of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) in the state, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will approach the home department to transfer cases in which the value of seized currencies is high.
According to NIA officers, the focus is on cases in which the seized value is Rs 1 lakh and above. They said that there were at least three such cases in in the recent past.
"Circulation of FICN of higher denomination is on the rise in Kerala.The three cases were reported in Dharmadam in Kannur, Chalakkudy in Thrissur and Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram. Such seizures can be booked under sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and probed by NIA," said an NIA officer.
It was in March, that the Attingal police arrested six members of an interstate racket with FICNs valued at Rs 1.76 lakh. All the seized fake bills were of Rs 1,000 denomination. In May, the Kannur police held three persons on charge of possessing and distributing counterfeit currencies. The police also seized FICNs valued at Rs 28,000 from them. One of them had paid Rs 65,000 to get fake currencies worth Rs1 lakh.
The police in Kochi and Aluva had also busted an interstate racket which used to bring counterfeit bills from Rajasthan. The police had seized Rs 1,64,830 from the racket which they made by exchanging fake bills.
Investigations by the state police had revealed that the fake currencies were printed using high precision machines. According to NIA officials, such counterfeits with great precision and in high quality paper can only be printed by a sovereign nation which can bear the capital investment on sophisticated machineries.
"We had requested the former state police chief to hand over such cases to the NIA, considering its gravity. As the government has changed, we will further approach the home department for issuing necessary sanction," said the NIA officer.
In some past cases, the NIA had found that the physical features and the paper used for the FICNs seized in India matched with the legal tender of Pakistan. It was also found that fake currencies are trafficked to the country through Malda on the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal.