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FICN network hit as agencies seize Rs 200 crore in fake notes

Official sources say the strong efforts made by the Ministry of Home Affairs to fight the menace of counterfeiting currency since 2010 has borne fruit, as the number of fake currency notes seized has been falling from 2013.

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Over the last six years, investigation agencies have seized close to 42 lakh fake currency notes worth about Rs 200 crore from different parts of the country, dealing a crucial blow to the FICN (Fake Indian Currency Note) network. 

Official sources say the strong efforts made by the Ministry of Home Affairs to fight the menace of counterfeiting currency since 2010 has borne fruit, as the number of fake currency notes seized has been falling from 2013.

These numbers, they add, further dipped in 2014, and reached an all time low in 2015. These officials believe the reason for this is that the number of fake notes being produced by counterfeiters is falling. Government figures confirm this trend. In 2010, 54,962 notes were seized followed by 6,01,219 in 2011, and 9,27,789 in 2012.  After that, the figures show a huge fall with 8,47,184 notes in 2013, 7,09,551 notes in 2014 and 4,66,657 notes in 2015 (till September). The battle to fight the menace of fake currency has been a long and interesting one for investigating agencies. However, investigating officials dealing with the international FICN syndicate say there was one instance which served as an eye opener.

The instance goes back to May 14, 2009 when the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police received information that two men, named Ravi Dhiren Ghosh and Nuruddin Islam were to meet and hand over counterfeit currency to their associates, identified as Mohamad Samad and Mohamad Aijul Shaikh near Star Cinema at Barrister Nath Pai Marg in Mazgaon, Mumbai. 

The ATS laid a trap and seized the notes from the four accused. But on examining them, they found that there was however something different about these fake notes. “The FICN were of very high quality and the denominations were in Rs 1000. This was crucial because in all cases before 2009 all the seized notes was hardly ever in such a high amount and these fake notes were top class forgeries. There were hardly any mistakes in them,” a senior ATS official told DNA. He added, “As soon as police realised this, the Central government was informed and the case was then handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).”  Soon after the seizure, a special FICN Co-ordination (FCORD) group was formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to share intelligence amongst the different security agencies of both the state and Centre. This was done to counter the problem of circulation of Fake Currency Notes in the country. Then, a terror funding and fake currency cell in NIA was constituted to investigate Terror Funding and Fake Currency cases.

A subsequent probe into the 2009 FICN Mumbai case however revealed more than the government was expecting. According to NIA documents, the notes were sent to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Mumbai and Currency Note Press (CNP) in Nasik for expert opinion. The RBI analysis, according to NIA documents, suggested that, “many covert features of genuine Indian currency had been successfully imitated. These features can be achieved only through highly sophisticated machinery which is sold only to sovereign governments as revealed in the examination.” Investigating agencies pointed the finger of suspicion at Pakistan.Subsequently, security agencies began a nation-wide crackdown on the networks which according to the MHA, “originates in Pakistan and spreads through South and South East Asian Region for infusing FICN into India via. Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the UAE.”

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