If Intelligence Bureau reports about the quantum of fake currency circulating in the Indian economy are anywhere near correct, Mumbai is the place to watch.
MUMBAI: If Intelligence Bureau reports about the quantum of fake currency circulating in the Indian economy are anywhere near correct, Mumbai is the place to watch. Mumbai’s real estate, filmdom and share market are key targets for pushing in counterfeit notes. IB has said that there may be close to Rs1,69,000 crore of fake currency sloshing about in the economy, though the Reserve Bank disputes that.
Senior police officers say that money lenders and counterfeit currency suppliers target sectors that involve quick cash transactions.
“After sustained interrogations of people arrested with fake currency, we discovered that fake currency is being pumped into real estate, particularly second-and third-rung builders and contractors, and into Bollywood and the share market,” says additional director general of police and former chief of the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), KP Raghuvanshi. “These sectors are volatile and need huge amounts of fast cash at regular intervals.”
The Maharashtra government last week constituted a high-level committee, headed by the director general of police, to look into ways of tackling the menace.
According to sources, at least 20% of the multi-crore real estate business in Mumbai runs on black money. This makes the industry vulnerable to victimisation by the underworld and terror groups. Senior police officials said that in the last couple of years, after India opened up its borders and transport routes to Pakistan, the inflow of counterfeit currency has been on the rise.
Recent seizures of fake currencies by the ATS have revealed a high degree of sophistication in their production, so much so that they are difficult to spot with the naked eye. “The new crop of fake currency notes appears almost genuine”, adds Raghuvanshi, who is now additional director general of railway police (Maharashtra).
The aim of the masterminds, believed to be based in Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, is to destabilise the Indian economy. The fake currency notes, police investigations have revealed, are smuggled in through the porous borders of West Bengal and Bihar.
The illegal money lending business, which flourishes behind closed doors in Dharavi, Andheri, Kalina and Kurla, is another conduit for mixing fake currency with genuine ones and funnelling it in the market. “Money lenders often mix several fake notes with genuine ones, thereby duping borrowers,” said a source from Dharavi.
The use of fake currency is also rampant with small-time businessmen in Mumbai’s neighbourhood in Thane and Navi Mumbai. “Gambling dens are also infested with fake money,” said a police official, requesting anonymity.
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