Stamp papers from the Northeast are being smuggled to Bangladesh and Nepal to produce counterfeit Indian currency notes, sleuths have warned Dispur, prompting the government to put in place a verification mechanism.
All the district administration in the state have been asked to check the daily stock of stamp papers with the vendors and the indents sent by them.
“We are taking the matter very seriously and the district administrations have been asked to strictly monitor the stocks and take swift and stern action if anything was found amiss,” an official said.
Sleuths of state and central agencies stumbled upon the disturbing fact while investigating cases related to seizure of fake currency notes in various states of the Northeast during the past year.
A source in Assam police today said a probe into the method employed by the fake currency racketeers revealed that the stamp papers were used because of their “thickness” and “good quality”.
“According to the information available with us, they (the racketeers) are using stamp papers because their quality is very similar to the paper that is used to make currency notes at the government-owned Nasik Road India Security Press in Maharashtra,” the police source said.
“Usually, they first paste the original currency note on a piece of stamp paper, which is used for its thickness and good quality, and then they take coloured print-outs of that using the latest printing technology. The fake notes were generally used along with original notes in bulk amount to avoid detection,” he said.
It is believed that the printing dens are based in countries like Bangladesh and Nepal, which share porous international borders with India.
“After the new fact was unearthed, it became necessary that the state governments take every possible measure to tighten the noose around the unscrupulous stamp paper vendors to stop the illegal diversion of the stamp papers to the fake currency rackets,” the police official said.
The law-enforcing agencies — the police, the CID and the CBI — have also heightened vigilance to bust these international rackets, which are pumping fake currency notes into India in an attempt to destabilise the country’s economy.
What worries the security agencies, however, is the quality of the fake notes, which makes it difficult for even the sleuths to detect a fake note from an original one.
“Since these notes resemble the originals so closely that the police forces of the northeastern states are taking help from forensic experts for scientific examination of the seized notes to confirm their suspicion,” he said.
An official source at the Forensic Science Laboratory in Guwahati said one-third of the cases received by the laboratory last year were related to counterfeit currencies.
The laboratory has received the highest number of such cases from Mizoram followed by Assam in 2008.
“During examination of these fake currencies, it was found that the paper used to produce the fake notes was stamp paper,” the laboratory source said.
The single largest haul of last year — which was sent to the laboratory for examination by Mizoram police — contained several bundles of fake notes totalling Rs 25 lakh.
All the seized notes were of Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations.
All the district administration in the state have been asked to check the daily stock of stamp papers with the vendors and the indents sent by them.
“We are taking the matter very seriously and the district administrations have been asked to strictly monitor the stocks and take swift and stern action if anything was found amiss,” an official said.
Sleuths of state and central agencies stumbled upon the disturbing fact while investigating cases related to seizure of fake currency notes in various states of the Northeast during the past year.
A source in Assam police today said a probe into the method employed by the fake currency racketeers revealed that the stamp papers were used because of their “thickness” and “good quality”.
“According to the information available with us, they (the racketeers) are using stamp papers because their quality is very similar to the paper that is used to make currency notes at the government-owned Nasik Road India Security Press in Maharashtra,” the police source said.
“Usually, they first paste the original currency note on a piece of stamp paper, which is used for its thickness and good quality, and then they take coloured print-outs of that using the latest printing technology. The fake notes were generally used along with original notes in bulk amount to avoid detection,” he said.
It is believed that the printing dens are based in countries like Bangladesh and Nepal, which share porous international borders with India.
“After the new fact was unearthed, it became necessary that the state governments take every possible measure to tighten the noose around the unscrupulous stamp paper vendors to stop the illegal diversion of the stamp papers to the fake currency rackets,” the police official said.
The law-enforcing agencies — the police, the CID and the CBI — have also heightened vigilance to bust these international rackets, which are pumping fake currency notes into India in an attempt to destabilise the country’s economy.
What worries the security agencies, however, is the quality of the fake notes, which makes it difficult for even the sleuths to detect a fake note from an original one.
“Since these notes resemble the originals so closely that the police forces of the northeastern states are taking help from forensic experts for scientific examination of the seized notes to confirm their suspicion,” he said.
An official source at the Forensic Science Laboratory in Guwahati said one-third of the cases received by the laboratory last year were related to counterfeit currencies.
The laboratory has received the highest number of such cases from Mizoram followed by Assam in 2008.
“During examination of these fake currencies, it was found that the paper used to produce the fake notes was stamp paper,” the laboratory source said.
The single largest haul of last year — which was sent to the laboratory for examination by Mizoram police — contained several bundles of fake notes totalling Rs 25 lakh.
All the seized notes were of Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations.
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