NEW DELHI, June 3:
India is planning to seek technological cooperation of the US to check the flow of fake Indian currency notes the way Washington does to put a stop of circulation of counterfeit USD.
Impressed by the American technology, which has a database of each counterfeit US dollar—photograph, from where it originated, its route of travel and people behind its circulation—India is all set to ask the US to help it curb the menace, mostly originating from Pakistan.
A formal request is expected to be placed during the Indo-US Strategic Dialogue to be held in Washington later this month. Union Home Secretary R K Singh, besides others, will also attend the crucial meeting.
New Delhi will seek American technology to check the smuggling and circulation of fake Indian currency notes and build its own database of such counterfeit notes.
The move came after Home Minister P Chidambaram vowed to stamp down heavily on those who carry fake Indian currency note and indulge in smuggling of drugs from across the border.
“As far as FICN is concerned, we are worried about it and we will spare nobody who carries FICN. We will stamp down heavily on those who circulate FICN and we will punish the traffickers very severely,” he had said last month. Indian security officials are convinced that the racket of FICN is operating from Pakistan with the support of its intelligence agency ISI and terrorist groups like LeT and is being distribution across India through different modules.
This information was corroborated by the confessional statements of those who were arrested for their involvement in the crime.
Officials said three nodal centres have been set up for the circulation of fake currency in India—Jammu, Malda in West Bengal and Nepal.
The fake notes are mostly in the face value of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 and are packed in bundles of Rs 5000 and Rs 10000 for easy transportation.
Jammu is the nodal point for covering the western, southern and northern parts of India, while Malda is the conduit point for supply of fake notes to West Bengal, Bihar and central Indian states.(PTI)
The centre in Nepal is used for stocking and distribution of counterfeit notes and smuggling them to Bangladesh for distribution across Assam and the eastern frontier states.
In January, Nepal Police had busted one of the biggest module of fake Indian currency notes and confiscated notes of the face value of Rs eight crore. (PTI)
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