Over a year and a half after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of high-value currency notes, banks are still counting old notes and counterfeits of now-banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. What is more bizarre is that they find 'Children Bank' notes and counterfeits of the new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 currency notes. The special operations group of crime branch has lodged a complaint about the recovery of 3,747 counterfeit notes of different denominations, with a face value of Rs 13,53,690 from 16 private and nationalised banks in Ahmedabad.
An SOG official said private and nationalised banks regularly lodge FIRs for counterfeit currency deposited with them. A senior SOG official said, “We were shocked when the bank said they found counterfeits of the demonetised Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 note more than a year and a half after demonetisation. However, bank officials clarified that counting of demonetised notes is still under way and counterfeits are being found as the process continues. Some 347 counterfeit notes of Rs 1,000 and 600 notes of Rs 5,000 were found at 16 banks.”
The FIR said banks found 189 counterfeits of Rs 2,000 and 190 of Rs 500 denominations, among new currency notes. “2258 counterfeits of Rs 100, 155 of Rs 50, six of Rs 20 and two of Rs 10 denominations were also found.” Sources from the SOG said among notes found at the banks, some were torn, others were stuck together with adhesive tape and paper. “Faded colours are clearly visible on some fake currency notes,” an official said. They said they have demanded CCTV footage of the banks for the last three months.
“However, it is very difficult to identify the accused once the notes are deposited in the bank. Banks must be vigilant enough to identify fake currency notes when they are being deposited. This will help us to catch the accused,” an official said.
