23.27 lakh fake currency notes seized in last six years: Centre
New Delhi: It seems the attempts of the government to put a check on circulation of fake currency notes are yielding positive results as the initiatives taken by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resulted into the seizure of 23.27 lakh fake currency notes in the last six years.
As per the information provided by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, highest 8.35 lakh fake currency notes were seized by the government agencies in 2020, which accounts to 36 percent of the total seizures.
In a written reply to the question asked by Lok Sabha member Badruddin Ajmal, who represents Dhubri (Assam) parliamentary seat, the finance minister told the House that the government enacted the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, formed National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is the nodal agency for investigation of high quality fake Indian currency notes (FICN) in India and constituted an FICN Coordination Group (FCORD) to share intelligence among the security agencies of the states/centre to contain the circulation of FICN.
The government has also constituted a terror funding and fake currency (TFFC) cell in the NIA to conduct focused investigation of terror funding and fake currency cases, the minister told Lok Sabha.
As per the data provided by the minister, 2.82 lakh fake currency notes were seized in 2016 when demonetization was rolled out. The seizure of FICN rose to 3.56 lakh in 2017 and reduced to 2.57 lakh in 2018.
In 2019, 2.87 lakh fake currency notes were seized and 3.10 lakh fake notes were seized in 2021. Further, the minister said that a Joint Task Force is functioning between India and a neighbouring country for building trust and cooperation for exchange of information and analysis of smugglers of FICN. Also, an MoU has been signed between India and the country to prevent and counter smuggling and circulation of fake currency notes.
Besides, the Directorate of Enforcement has taken up eight cases for investigation under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) related to seizure of counterfeit currency of Rs 84.32 crore by law enforcement agencies and necessary action as per provisions of PMLA has been taken, the minister said.
