NEW DELHI: During the year when the country shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the volume of fake Indian currency shot up to record levels. In what is perhaps the highest ever Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) ever seized in one calendar year, Rs 92.17 crore in fake notes were seized across the country in 2020, according to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
What is perhaps even more remarkable is that most of those fake currency notes, worth Rs 83.61 crore were recovered from just one state — Maharashtra. The number of such notes was a staggering 6,99,495. In other words, over 90% of all fake currency seized in the country was seized from just one state. The state second on this dubious list was West Bengal, where fake currency worth Rs 2.46 crore was seized. Andhra Pradesh with nearly Rs 1.4 crore and Tamil Nadu with recovery of nearly Rs 1 crore in fake notes were placed fourth and fifth on the list, respectively.
The haul of Rs 92.17 crore is also the record for the most FICN recovered in a year after the Modi 1.0 government had announced the historic demonetisation move on November 8, 2016, during which one of the reasons attributed for scrapping old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was wiping out fake currency notes in circulation.
Among the Union Territories, most of the fake currency was recovered from Jammu and Kashmir. The haul was worth nearly Rs 12.83 lakh, which was followed by Delhi, where nearly Rs 4 lakh in fake currency was recovered.
A total of 8,34,947 fake currency notes worth Rs 92.17 crore were seized in India in 2020. A total of 385 FIRs were filed and cases were registered against 633 people in connection with these fake notes.
According to NCRB’s previous records, FICN worth Rs 25.39 crore was seized in India in 2019 and FICN worth Rs 17.95 crore was seized throughout the country in 2018. In 2019, the state from where most of the fake currency was recovered was Karnataka. The total haul was worth Rs 4.78 crore.
Most repeat offenders in Mizoram
New Delhi: With 37.8% cases of recidivism (tendency of criminals to reoffend) among persons arrested for cases registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Mizoram topped the list of habitual offenders among the states and UTs in 2020. Chandigarh had held this dubious distinction for three years, the latest NCRB report reveals. Under the category of special laws, Chandigarh (19.1) recorded the highest percentage of recidivism, followed by Sikkim which posted 19% cases of recidivism. The national average of habitual offenders returning to jails after a repeated conviction under IPC crimes stood at 4.8% last year, same as the previous two years and better than 2017 when recidivism was 5.4%.