BENGALURU: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has filed a complaint against a few bank chests (where currencies are stored) and officials of various banks for remitting counterfeit Indian currency notes of face value Rs 100, in the past few months.
The branches of banks’ currency chests from Channapatna, Hubballi, Davanagere and KGF deposited money with the RBI on Nrupathunga Road in Bengaluru, in which counterfeit notes were found.
According to officials, around Rs 39,600 counterfeit currency notes of Rs 100 face value (total worth Rs 39,60,000) were deposited by these bank chest branches. Three separate cases have been taken up by the Halasurgate police, and detailed investigations are on. Manager of Issue department of RBI filed a complaint with the police, seeking action against the people involved in manufacturing and disposing of counterfeit notes and also against bank officials who have remitted the money.
In the complaint, he has stated that some amount of money was remitted to RBI by the State Bank of India (SBI) currency chest of Mysuru and four other currency chests in Bengaluru between February 1 and February 28. In that amount, around 40 notes of Rs 100 face value (worth Rs 4,000) were found to be counterfeit.
In another case, the manager has alleged that the amount remitted by the SBI manager and other staff of Channapatna currency chest branch and five other chests in Bengaluru remitted 79 fake notes of Rs 100 face value (worth Rs 7,900) to RBI between January 1 and January 31.
In yet another case filed by the RBI manager, he states that the manager of Sydicate Bank currency chest of Hubballi and other managers and staff of 22 currency chests in Davanagere, KGF and other places have remitted 277 counterfeit notes of Rs 100 face value (worth Rs 27,700) to RBI between August 1, 2018, and December 31, 2018.
According to sources in the RBI, its manager filed the complaint with the police soon after they found counterfeit notes, as per the notification by the RBI chief manager. However, police have taken legal opinion and registered the cases months after the complaint was filed.
An investigating officer from Halasurgate police station said that all the counterfeit notes were old notes. “We have taken the required remittance documents from RBI and taken up cases under IPC 489C (possession of forged or counterfeit currency notes or bank notes) and 489B (using as genuine, forged or counterfeit currency notes or bank notes) and started investigations.
These counterfeit notes are remitted to the RBI by currency chests, which get the money deposited by various banks. “We will have to visit these banks and inquire with the officials concerned and take necessary action,” the officer added.