In order to topple the Indian economy, her neighbouring nations have yet again started smuggling fake currency into the country. High quality fake currency notes are being circulated in the market, which cannot be discerned with from the authentic currency notes easily by people. This is indeed a matter of concern for India’s developing economy.
The fake currency is entering India through Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan and this fact came into the limelight after Government of India’s Currency Note Press, Nasik, reported finding fake currency from Delhi in its special report, which in turn was submitted to the Union Home Ministry.
As a result, the matter is now being looked into the NIA, which has found important evidences related to it. As per NIA’s investigation, a fake currency note batch had entered the state of Bihar via Nepal in the months of March-April and notes out of this batch are being circulated all over the big cities of India. It was further found out by the central agency that one Raisul Azam from Champaran, Bihar, had gone to Delhi in January, 2022 with 596 fake 500-rupee notes, which adds up to 3 lakhs rupees, in order to circulate them in the market; but while he was in a hurry to get done away with the task, he was nabbed by the Delhi Police Special Cell and the notes were then sent to the Currency Press at Nasik for inspection.
After inspecting the notes, experts found out that startlingly, the notes had the main watermark, hidden watermark, demo numeral, electrotype watermark, length and the breadth, absolutely similar to the original currency notes. Even the paper quality was similar to that of the authentic notes, along with similarly changing serial numbers and a real-like security thread. A security thread is a thin ribbon which one can see on the Indian currency notes, that is threaded vertically into the paper.
Nevertheless, the fake notes were found to be much thicker than the real ones and were rougher in comparison. The size of printing design was different as well; and that is how it was confirmed that the notes were fake.
The special report of the Currency Press describes ways to differentiate the fake from the authentic currency notes. The security threads in the fake notes are less lustrous in comparison to the real ones. Also, when the real notes are turned, the security thread changes colour; but the thread in the fake notes remains appearing silver. The security thread of the fake notes will not shine under UV light and letters printed on it will be visible. The fluorescent fibre in the fake notes will appear silver, while it is multi-coloured when it comes to real Indian currency notes. Other factors include the roughness of the fake notes and the thickness of the paper used.
The printing of authentic notes is precisely sharp and when seen through a magnifying glass, the minutest of lines can be seen clearly; on the other hand, despite the same kind of colours and prints, fake notes will not have the similar kind of sharpness due to the non-existence of micro-printing.
