KOLKATA: Amid the hullabaloo over the sudden demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000
currency notes, fake Rs 10 denomination coins from Bangladesh have silently crept into the markets of Kolkata and other south Bengal districts.
“A counterfeit Rs 10 coin is in circulation that has numerical ‘10’ written in the
centre of the silver plate, 15 markings on the top in the golden domain and two bars on the top and below of the Ashoka pillar on the backside of the coin. These fake coins come through Malda border from Bangladesh,” a senior police official of Kolkata police told Express.
An official of Salboni mint, where currency notes are printed, cleared the confusion. “The original Rs 10 coin has ‘10’ written in the intermittent region of silver and golden concentric circles. Also, it has exactly 10 markings on the top of the coin in the bronze region,” he said.
However, general public are not taking any chance and are altogether refusing to accept the Rs 10 coins. “Bus conductors or fish sellers are not accepting any Rs 10 coin. What should I do with all the Rs 10 coins that I have? Most of them are original,” said Ashish Deb, a marketer in Esplanade area in central Kolkata.
Even commuters at major railway station Howrah refused to accept the Rs 10 coins as change from the booking counters.
“How do I check each and every Rs 10 coin during the rush hour? When commuters say that the Rs 10 coin is fake and refuse to accept, I have to give them Rs 10 notes,” said Sutapa Mondal, a railway ticket counter operator at Howrah station.
Meanwhile, Bengalis throughout Kolkata and other parts of the state faced problems as petrol pumps and railway counters failed to cope up with their tactic of getting the bigger currencies exchanged for smaller ones.
Bangladesh nationals who had come to Kolkata for medical treatment with Indian currency in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes also staggered with shock and grief over the situation. “I had got Rs 50,000 in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from Benapole border. What should I do with them if people refuse to accept them? How can I return home?” asked Shamsul Rahman, a resident of Jessore,121 km from Kolkata but on the other side of international border, at SSKM hospital here.
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