Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 2
Adding to the spectrum of crisis and challenge that the police encounter on a daily basis, a new crisis has hit Nagaland as the state is fast emerging as a hub for the counterfeit currency market. The racket is now, not just confined to commercial hubs like Dimapur and Kohima but have infiltrated even deeper into the areas like the recent recovery in Wokha. The arrests of several people in separate incidents last month for possessing fake currencies may just be the tip of the iceberg.
Many officials believe that there is a larger conspiracy, involving people with power back-up; and one reason for this suspicion is the nature of these counterfeit currencies. Sources revealed that the counterfeit notes looked real enough to even confuse a person experienced in these matters. Police opined that the high standard of these counterfeit notes did away with any suspicion of it being manufactured locally and stated that there was a high chance of it being manufactured at the security press of the country.
Several police sources also expressed suspicion that the counterfeit currency racket was being carried out in connivance with agents inside banks. It was disclosed that a few months ago, the police had detected four Rs.500 notes which were counterfeit, among the payment issued by the bank as staff salary. However since it was the salary of the police, in question, the banks had replaced the amount of Rs. 2000 immediately. This misgiving of an inside job, gains weight in the light of the fact that all banks possess Ultra Violet Lamps to detect any false currency notes that might be submitted by its customers.
However the banks justify that despite possessing UV lamps, it was impossible to run this checks on every currency note deposited by the throngs of customers’ everyday. It was only incase of suspicion that the notes were scanned in it. It also added that in rare cases when the bank discovered a fake currency in its possession, the amount was made good from the cashier’s own pocket. In relation to fake notes found among the bundles issued by the banks, the banks held that with the abolition of the stapling of money bundles by the Reserve Bank of India, it was very easy for the culprits to remove a few notes from the bundles, insert fake ones and tape it back to look like it was directly from the banks.
Bank officials further expressed the need for the people to count their money while receiving any cash and said that Nagas in their honesty seldom counted the notes. Moreover they were of the opinion that one way to curb the black money business was to resort to using banks for all sorts of transactions, with drafts, cheques etc instead of cash. The police on the other hand, thought that the common people should be educated on the features of fake and real currency. They also added that the menace should be curbed at the root with the RBI including certain features which could not be duplicated.
Meanwhile the source of these fake currencies still not ascertained, though traces point to agents from across the borders. No much headway has been made in the investigation as one of the accused, Awan Poumai, who was arrested with a fake currency amounting to Rs. 3.96 lakhs on June 23, has only disclosed that the notes had been entrusted by her husband, Jackson, who is still absconding.
.jpg)
