BANGALORE: According to investigators, a majority of the fake Indian currency notes (FICN) are being printed in Dubai, while only on a small scale fake notes are being printed within the country.
Earlier, when Gulf (Dubai) was the transit route, expatriates were being used to bring fake notes of both 500 and 1000 rupee denominations through selected conduits to Hyderabad and other cities in the country.
However, when the transit routes changed, even the modus operandi changed with evolution of new types of concealment, keeping the investigation agencies on their toes.
“There are many local Indian organisations with links and conduits to Dubai in regions like northern Kerala, Bhatkal (Karnataka) and Hyderabad. Most of the gangs which operate here do not believe in borders, find safe places depending on their links and also keep on changing their hideouts, once alerted. Even the involvement of local underworld gangs in metros in such activities cannot be ruled out,” Intelligence sources say.
They add that Bhatkal is another region which has shown some links and its close ‘proximity’ to Dubai has thrown a new challenge to investigators.
Enforcement Agencies have been successful in making 6-7 “major seizures” of counterfeit notes with a face value of more than two crore rupees in the last two years, while 8-9 persons have been arrested in some districts of south Kerala, Bangalore and Mangalore.
In the recent months, even the state police have caught many conduits with counterfeit notes, albeit in small quantities, in Bellary, Bijapur, Karwar and Bangalore.
According to International reports, 10-20 per cent of the circulated money in India is fake.
A recent Finance Ministry report says there has been a 400 per cent increase in FICN circulation with the 500 rupee denomination note bearing the brunt of counterfeiting.