Malda reclaims distinction as country’s fake currency hub

MALDA: West Bengal’s Malda district has reclaimed its dubious distinction of being the nation’s fake notes hub, just about 100 days after the Centre demonetised high-value bank notes to purge the economy of “black money” and counterfeit bills.

The Border Security Force (BSF), guarding the Indo-Bangladesh border, arrested Shariful Shah, 32, with 48 fake notes of ₹2,000 denomination on Sunday.

The BSF has seized counterfeit notes with face value of ₹ 2.96 lakh in the north Bengal district since Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the surprise announcement of culling 86% of the currency in circulation on November 8 last year.

This figure does not include the seizure made by state police and central agencies, such as the NIA.

BSF officers said Sunday’s catch was the highest in Bengal since demonetisation, and will probably be the highest in the country as well. But the volume of the smuggled notes is not their only concern. “The quality of the seized notes is getting better and better. The fake notes Shariful was carrying were far better than those seized by the NIA and the West Bengal police earlier. Almost all the security features are present in the seized FICN,” said an officer. According to senior BSF officers posted in the district, the frequent seizure of fake notes junked the theory that demonetisation has affected the counterfeit industry.

Malda accounts for almost 80% of the fake currency that comes into India.